MUMBAI : Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik on Sunday urged Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to come to terms with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the former alliance partner BJP for the benefit of the party. In his letter to Thackeray, Sarnaik wrote, “We believe in you and your leadership.
In a letter to the party supremo, Pratap Sarnaik sitting MLA from Thane district wrote: “We believe in you and your leadership but Congress and NCP are trying to weaken our party. I believe that it will be better if you get closer to PM Modi… If we come together once again, it will be beneficial to the party and workers.” The letter dated June 10 states: “NCP & Congress want their own CM. Congress wants to contest alone & NCP is trying to break away leaders from Shiv Sena. There seems to be veiled support from Centre, no central agency is behind NCP leaders.” Sarnaik is under the Enforcement Directorate’s scanner for alleged money laundering case.
But, Congress and NCP are trying to weaken our party. NCP and Congress want their own Chief Minister. Congress wants to contest alone while NCP is trying to break away leaders from Shiv Sena. I believe that it will be better if you get close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. If we (Shiv Sena and BJP) come together once again, it will be beneficial to the party and workers.”
The Shiv Sena MLA alleged that the central government is targeting the leaders of the party by using central agencies but there has been no harassment of NCP leaders. “There seems to be veiled support from the Centre. No central agency is behind the NCP leaders. Central agencies are targeting us for no fault of ours. If you come close to Prime Minister Modi, the sufferings of leaders like Ravindra Waikar, Anil Parab, Pratap Sarnaik and their families will end. Even after breaking the alliance with BJP, there is a personal relationship with many leaders. Before this too breaks and if we come together once again, then all the Shiv Sena workers will be benefited,” Sarnaik’s letter further reads.

In the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls, BJP emerged as the single largest party in Maharashtra with 105 seats followed by Shiv Sena with 56 seats, NCP bagged 54 seats while Congress got 44 seats in 288-member Maharashtra Assembly. The BJP-Shiv Sena alliance won an absolute majority in the election but could not form the government over the issue of the chief ministerial post. Later, Shiv Sena along with NCP and Congress formed the government in the state under the leadership of Thackeray, who took oath as Maharashtra Chief Minister.

While Shiva Sena leader Sanjay Raut refused to comment on the demands made by the lawmaker though he pointed that a very important issue about Maha Vikas Aghadi MLAs are being harassed has been raised. “An MLA has written to the chief minister. What should I say about this? However, he has, if the letter is authentic, raised a very important issue that MLAs of Maha Vikas Aghadi are being harassed,” Raut told ANI.

In November 2020, the ED had raided premises linked to Sarnaik in Maharashtra in connection with a money laundering case being probed against a security service provider company and others. The Shiv Sena had called the raids a “political vendetta”. Shiv Sena had forged an alliance with the NCP and Congress and formed the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra in 2019 after the Uddhav Thackeray-led party fell out with the BJP.
(With Inputs from Mumbai Bureau)).

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