Wherever J P Nadda goes, BJP loses, claims Sanjay Raut

Mumbai: Amid Bharatiya Janata Party president J P Nadda's two-day Maharashtra visit, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday claimed wherever Nadda goes, the BJP loses.

However, BJP MLA Nitesh Rane hit back at Raut, accusing him of targeting individuals on constitutional posts and inciting the administration against the government.

"All these are signs of an urban Naxal," Rane claimed.

Notably, the BJP faced defeat in the recently concluded Assembly elections in Karnataka where the Congress registered an emphatic win.

Talking to reporters in Nashik, Raut said, ''Nadda stayed put in Karnataka to campaign for his party, but it was defeated. Now he is coming to Maharashtra. We welcome him. Wherever he goes, BJP loses.'' Nadda is on a two-day visit to Maharashtra from Wednesday during which he will meet state BJP leaders.

The Maharashtra Assembly polls are due next year.

Targeting state Assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar, Raut claimed, "Defection is his hobby and also profession. There is no party in the state of which he hasn't been a member.'' In its verdict on the Shiv Sena-centric tussle that led to the fall of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra last year, the Supreme Court on May 11 said it can’t reinstate the then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray as he chose to resign without facing the floor test.

Refusing to disqualify the 16 rebel Shiv Sena MLAs, including Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the top court said it cannot ordinarily adjudicate disqualification petitions under the anti-defection law and directed Speaker Narwekar to take a decision on the pending matter within a “reasonable period”.

To a query on notices likely to be issued to Shiv Sena MLAs, Raut claimed, "The notices are being sent by Narwekar and not the Assembly Speaker. The manner in which Narwekar has been speaking to the media in the last few days shows the Constitution is being misused to break to rule of law.'" For the first time, a presiding officer was declaring in public what decision he will be taking, the Rajya Sabha member said.

Narwekar on Tuesday said the decision on the disqualification of 16 MLAs, including CM Shinde, will start from the point of which faction was representing the actual Shiv Sena in July 2022- after the split engineered by Shinde.

He also said the Election Commission's decision to allot the 'Shiv Sena' name and its symbol to the faction led by CM Shinde is a "prospective" decision and not retrospective.

Meanwhile, BJP MLA Nitesh Rane hit back at Raut, saying Nadda is BJP's national president and he tours the entire country.

"We work under his leadership. Raut must say how many votes were bagged by the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti for whose candidates he himself campaigned in the Karnataka elections," he said.

Rane accused Raut of targeting individuals on constitutional posts and inciting the administration against the government.

"All these are signs of an urban Naxal," he claimed.

"One needs to check what are Raut's designs. Earlier it was the governor, Supreme Court, now Speaker...and also asking the police and administration to disobey the government. Urban Naxals get funding from other countries," Rane claimed.