Raut accuses ‘Delhi’s Ahmed Shah Abdali’ of being behind MNS attack on Uddhav’s convoy

Bombay: Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Sanjay Raut on Sunday blamed Union Minister Amit Shah for the attack by MNS workers on Uddhav Thackeray’s convoy on Saturday night. He said the attack was carried out on the instructions of Delhi’s Ahmed Shah Abdali. Reacting to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s comment that Saturday’s incident was the MNS’s reaction to the action (Shiv Sena (UBT) workers’ attack on Raj Thackeray’s convoy on Friday night), Raut said, “In two months, we will show them what is called a reaction.”

A day after Raj Thackeray’s convoy was attacked by Shiv Sena (UBT) workers with betel nuts in Sambhajinagar district, MNS supporters retaliated by pelting Uddhav Thackeray’s convoy with manure, tomatoes, coconuts and bangles. Following the attack on his convoy, Raj Thackeray had warned of retaliation if such incidents continued. When Uddhav arrived for a rally of his party workers at ‘Gadkari Rangayatan’ auditorium in Thane on Saturday, NNS workers staged a protest and pelted his convoy with tomatoes and cow dung.

Speaking about the MNS workers, Mr Raut said, “You are being forced to do this. Ahmad Shah Abdali of Delhi is giving you a ‘supari’ (contact) to spread anarchy in Maharashtra. You are being used. Your leaders are taking ‘supari’ and are silent, but you are being forced to fight against each other. This is not good for our state. I am not naming any party, but they are trying to mislead people as the Vidhan Sabha elections are approaching in Maharashtra.”

Earlier on August 4, reacting to Mr Shah’s taunt as “the head of Aurangzeb’s fan club”, Uddhav Thackeray had termed Amit Shah as the political heir of Ahmad Shah Abdali, the Afghan ruler who defeated the Marathas in the Battle of Panipat.

Mr Raut also denied that his party had anything to do with the attack on the MNS chief’s convoy the previous day, Friday.

Chief Minister Shinde had earlier termed the attack on Uddhav’s convoy as a “reaction to action”. “Who started it? The Shiv Sena (UBT) activists targeted Raj Thackeray’s convoy in Sambhajinagar. The protest by MNS workers was a response to the Shiv Sena (UBT) actions. Whenever there is action, there is a reaction,” he said.

Without directly referring to the chief minister, Mr Raut said if anyone blames his party for the untoward incidents, he is disappointed. “We have already clarified that our party had nothing to do with the attack on the MNS chief. Despite that, if anyone calls it a reaction to an action, then he is confused. We will show them in two months what is called a reaction,” he said.