Devendra Fadnavis meets Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut in Mumbai; BJP says it's not political

Mumbai: Former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut met here on Saturday, prompting speculation in Maharashtra's political circles. Raut, who hogged media limelight for his strident anti-BJP posture over power sharing formula after last year's state Assembly polls, met Fadnavis at a suburban hotel here.

Maharashtra BJP chief spokesperson Keshav Upadhye said there was no political angle to the meeting. "Raut wanted to interview Fadnavis for (the Sena mouthpiece) Saamana and this meeting was to discuss how to go about it," he tweeted.

"Fadnavis has informed Raut that he would grant Raut the interview after returning from poll campaigning in Bihar, and there are no political connotations to the meeting," Upadhye said.


Shiv Sena and BJP, which contested the state Assembly elections as allies, fell out over power sharing formula and the Uddhav Thackeray-led party formed the government with the NCP and Congress as the new alliance partners.