Minister Shambhuraj Desai calls out Sanjay Raut over false allegations on legislative council elections

Kolhapur: State tourism minister Shambhuraj Desai on Friday called out Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut for making baseless allegations regarding the upcoming legislative council election.

Speaking with the media in Kolhapur, Desai said the Mahayuti alliance has the votes of Shiv Sena, BJP and NCP, and was confident of its win. The election for 17 MLC seats will be held on June 18.

Responding to the allegations made by politician Bal Mane, Desai said, “Mane filed the nomination form from Shiv Sena (UBT). Till Thursday, Sanjay Raut was backing him, saying he will fight with full strength. But when Bal Mane realised that the numbers were not in his favour, he withdrew his application. Suddenly Bal Mane has become bad for Raut.”

Speaking over Mane’s statement that Shiv Sena minister Uday Samant was waiting for an opportunity to become the deputy chief minister, “I have nothing to do with Mane. How does Mane know about our Shiv Sena? In 2022, we had 50 MLAs, and today, we have 60 MLAs under deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde’s leadership. Mane said this intentionally so as to bring suspicion on Samant. But there is 0% truth in this,” he added.

Desai reviewed the ongoing work in Kolhapur district under the tourism and mining departments. The review meeting was held at the Rajarshi Shahuji Auditorium in the district collector’s office. District collector Dr Vijay Rathod, Zilla Parishad chief executive officer Dr Jasmine, municipal commissioner Dr Rajendra Bharud and resident deputy district collector Gajanan Gurav were present at the meeting. Desai also visited Shivaji University, Kolhapur, and reviewed the work at the Balasaheb Desai Study Center.