Shiv Sena UBT leader Sanjay Raut is likely to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, according to sources on Monday (August 21).
Sources said that the party wants him to contest from the Mumbai North East Lok Sabha seat.
Raut is currently a four-time Rajya Sabha MP.
The seat on which Sena UBT led by Uddhav Thackeray wants Raut to contest the elections presently belongs to BJP leader Manoj Kotak who is an MP from the constituency.
Reacting to the development, BJP leader Nitesh Rane dared Raut to contest from Ratnagiri or Sindhudurg.
"Sanjay Raut can contest the Lok Sabha elections from Mumbai. In such a situation, I invite him to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Sindhudurg or Ratnagiri. Come to our field then how you lose your deposit. The whole of Maharashtra will know what is the respect of Sanjay Raut. If you have courage, show it by contesting elections from Ratnagiri or Sindhudurg instead of Mumbai," he said.
Some details about Raut
Sanjay Raut, seen as the right-hand man of Uddhav Thackeray, has been by his side in every thick and thin including in 2022 when Shiv Sena (undivided) broke apart into two factions following Eknath Shinde's rebellion.
Raut is known to be vocal on issues pertaining to the state and the country and has been an undeterred voice of Shiv Sena UBT.
He was first elected into Rajya Sabha in 2004 from Maharashtra and has since then been a four-time MP. He is also an Editor of Shiv Sena UBT mouthpiece Saamana.
Raut was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on August 1 last year in a money laundering case related to the Patra Chawl redevelopment project. He was granted bail by a special court in Mumbai after which he stepped out of the jail on November 9 last year.
Uddhav Thackeray had described him as a "fighter who never succumbed to pressure".
The ED's probe pertained to alleged financial irregularities in the redevelopment of the Patra Chawl and related financial transactions involving Sanjay Raut's wife and associates.
