Sanjay Raut solely responsible for frosty relations between Shiv Sena and BJP: Chandrakant Patil

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Maharashtra Political Crisis: Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patil on Tuesday held Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut solely responsible for the frosty relations between the Sena and the BJP and ruled out any role in the political crisis that has rocked the state.

"He (Raut) is also doing a lot of damage to the state and he is doing it on someone's behalf," Patil said.

The Shiv Sena had snapped ties with a long-term ally after the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls over the issue of sharing the chief ministerial post. The Sena later tied up with the NCP and Congress to form government in the state.

Patil said his party has got nothing to do with political developments in the ruling Shiv Sena, whose minister Eknath Shinde has gone incommunicado along with some MLAs. 

"It is the Shiv Sena's internal matter. We are not aware why Shinde went to Surat with his party colleagues. We have nothing to do with his move," he said. "If the BJP receives any proposal from Eknath Shinde to form a government, we would definitely consider it seriously. After all, we all have worked together in the past, hence it is much better to work and run a government with them," the BJP leader added.

Patil, however, said that if the BJP receives any proposal from Eknath Shinde to form a government, they would "definitely consider it".

Shinde along with some Shiv Sena MLAs had gone incommunicado, a party leader said earlier on Tuesday, a day after the ruling Maha Vikas Agahdi (MVA-comprising the Sena, NCP and Congress) suffered a setback in the Maharashtra Legislative Council polls by losing one out of the six seats it contested.

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