Amit Shah has asked Shinde to drop four Sena ministers, claims Sanjay Raut

Sanjay Raut. File pic

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Friday claimed that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had asked Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to drop four key ministers of the Shinde-led Shiv Sena. The Shinde-led party, however, poohpoohed Raut's statement, PTI reported.

There will be a political "explosion" over the long-expected cabinet expansion in the state, Raut told reporters. "Amit Shah has given the CM some instructions for changes in the cabinet. In the cabinet expansion, if at all it happens, Shah has instructed that key four ministers of the Shinde faction be dropped...this is my information," he said.

When news agency PTI contacted for a reaction, Shinde-led Shiv Sena's spokesperson Sanjay Shirsat said Raut's claim could be "due to his habit of poking nose in other people's business."

Moreover, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader and Sanjay Raut Friday said he and his brother Sunil Raut, who is an incumbent Member of Legislative Assembly, had received death threat calls and asked the Maharashtra government to take them seriously. He also said Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar getting a threat on social media was a serious issue, adding moves were afoot to instil fear in the opposition. "The government should take it (threat calls to him and his brother) seriously and not me. The government wants such threats. The matter is with the police and they will have to look into it," he told reporters. "Sunil Raut received a threat. I didn't file any complaint. We are not worried about it," claimed Raut, who has received threats in the past as well.

On the recent Aurangzeb-related issue, Sanjay Raut on Thursday said that 'Bajrang Bali' did not help the BJP in the Karnataka elections, so the party is now relying on historical figures like Aurangzeb and Tipu Sultan. Speaking at the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena's foundation day program, Sanjay Raut blamed the ruling alliance member BJP for the recent incidents of communal violence in Maharashtra.

"(Mughal Emperor) Aurangzeb's tomb is in Maharashtra. Aurangzeb has been buried here....Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's Maharashtra buried him, then why he is being brought to life again in Kolhapur, Sangamner or somewhere else?" Sanjay Raut asked, according to the PTI.