Taking a swipe at Eknath Shinde, who celebrated Shiv Sena’s 60th foundation in Mumbai on Friday, Raut reiterated that the “real” Shiv Sena still is led by Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray, whereas the Shinde camp is “Amit Shah’s test tube baby”.
Read more: Shiv Sena (UBT) issues fresh show cause notice to absentee MPs, threatens ‘disqualification’
“I wanted to send some DNA samples to biology professors for study. I mean, the group that was formed four years ago. The one you are referring to is Amit Shah’s ‘test-tube baby.’ So, how can you give a 60-year certificate to a four-year-old ‘test-tube baby’?” Raut said in Marathi during a Mumbai press conference.
“What kind of miracle of biology is this? Yesterday marked 60 years of the Shiv Sena of Hindu Hriday Samrat Balasaheb Thackeray, under the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray. And four years ago, a ‘test-tube baby’ was born, planted, rather, by Amit Shah. Both its parents are Amit Shah; this is yet another miracle. Both the mother and father are Amit Shah,” he added.
Speaking about the possibility of atleast 6 UBT MPs shifting to the Eknath Shinde camp, also publicly known as “Operation Tiger“, Raut said that they have been bought at an “auction”, and the “real tigers” still are on Thackeray’s side.
“Look, this is not ‘Operation Tiger,’ let me tell you again. These ‘foxes’ who ran away from our side–he [Shinde] just performed a ‘circumcision’ on them. The tigers are here! The army of tigers is here, the tigers are right here! These people who were ready to sell themselves–six people–were ‘For Sale.’ They came to the market, and because Shinde has immense wealth, he bought them,” he said.This morning, Raut also shared a cryptic post on X amid a war of words ensuing between the UBT Sena and Shinde’s Sena.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader posted an infographic with the text, “Kuch log Kuttey toh hoty hain Lekin wafa’daar Nahi hoty” (Some are dogs, but they are not loyal).
Regarding the UBT leaders leaving the party, Eknath Shinde on Friday accused Uddhav Thackeray of abandoning the ideology of Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray for the sake of power and asserting that Balasaheb’s legacy should be reflected through work and not merely through claims over his name.
“You forgot Balasaheb’s ideology for the sake of a chair. Balasaheb wanted the Shiv Sena to reach every village. You worked hard to make the Shiv Sena the second-largest party in the country,” Shinde said.
People support the decision we took four years ago,” Shinde had added.
Read more: ‘Ready to quit as chief if no faith in me’: Uddhav Thackeray rejects Congress merger claims
The political landscape in Maharashtra is reeling under the tremors of a potential second split within the Shiv Sena, as the Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) faction grapples with a deepening internal rift.
As this happened, Uddhav Thackeray on Friday said he would step down from his position if the allegations levelled against him were proven true, but asserted that he would never allow the Shiv Sena to be handed over to “any thief”.
