In a stunning claim by a top leader of BJP ally Shiv Sena, Sanjay Raut on Sunday said that Union minister Nitin Gadkari was waiting for a ‘fractured mandate’ in the upcoming general elections in 2019. He was referring to recent buzz around replacing PM Narendra Modi with Nitin Gadkari over his acceptability as the prime ministerial face among NDA allies.
Raut made this claim in his Sunday column in the Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’. The Shiv Sena MP praised Gadkari saying a leader like him has equal acceptance in the RSS as well as among other BJP leaders. “Political conspiracies were hatched to deny Gadkari a second term when he was the BJP president (from 2009 to 2013),” Raut claimed. He then added that “Gadkari is now waiting for the hung Lok Sabha of 2019”.
The Sena legislator expressed concern over declining support for NDA and said: “The country is heading for a fractured mandate and prime minister Narendra Modi is responsible for it.” He further said that PM Modi’s larger-than-life image has lost the shine now and full mandate in 2014 is now “an opportunity wasted”.
Raut further praised Rahul Gandhi and wrote: “Rahul Gandhi’s leadership is not as towering as Modi’s but he has gained importance as people are disappointed with the current government.” He also said that the senior leaders in the BJP are worried about its possible poor performance in upcoming elections but Nitin Gadkari’s statements are an indication of which way the winds are blowing.