Shiv Sena (Uddhav faction) MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday claimed a “deal of Rs 2000 crore” has taken place so far to “purchase” the Shiv Sena party name and its ‘bow and arrow’ symbol, two days after the Election Commission allotted them to the faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde Friday.
However, MLA Sada Sarvankar from the Shinde camp dismissed the claim and asked, “Is Sanjay Raut a cashier?”
Raut told the media in Mumbai, “The preliminary information I have is that Rs 2,000 crore was exchanged over the last six months to get the Shiv Sena name and the bow and arrow symbol. It was purely a commercial deal, not on merit; a business in which huge money was paid.”
“When Rs 50 lakh price can be kept for buying the support of MLAs, Rs one crore for MPs, Rs 5 crore for shakhas, they would have certainly paid huge money to get the title ‘Shiv Sena’ and the bow and arrow symbol. They stole the Shiv Sena name and the symbol which belonged to Balasaheb Thackeray and the Uddhav Thackeray-led party. It is my firm belief that money played an important role,” Raut said.
Ruling on a dispute that began in June last year, the Election Commission decided Friday that the Sena faction led by Eknath Shinde was the real Shiv Sena as opposed to the group led by former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. In June 2022, Shinde, along with 40 rebel MLAs, quit Shiv Sena. It brought down the MVA government led by Thackeray.
The new coalition led by the BJP and Shinde faction came to power in the state with Shinde as the chief minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis as the deputy chief minister.