The Sena has leapt to the Congress’ defence as West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the party has neither the ability nor the leadership to be the heart of the Opposition.
New Delhi:
In an exclusive interview with NDTV, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, who has emerged as an unlikely champion of the Congress, says he told Rahul Gandhi in a meeting yesterday that Mr Gandhi should revive the United Progressive Alliance, or UPA, the Congress-led coalition that governed the country between 2004-14.
The Sena has leapt to the Congress’ defence as West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the party has neither the ability nor the leadership to be the heart of the Opposition. But the Sena has countered her “There Is No UPA” announcement, declaring there can be no Opposition front without Congress.
Mr Raut suggested that he went a step further in his meeting with Mr Gandhi, urging him to revive the UPA; he even hinted the Sena may join it. The Shiv Sena is part of a 3-member alliance government. in Maharashtra, along with the Congress and Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party or NCP.
“We are running a mini-UPA in Maharashtra under Uddhav Thackeray’s leadership. So we should have a similar arrangement at the central level”, he told NDTV in an interview at his Delhi residence today.
When asked if the Sena will join the UPA, he said “I told Rahul Gandhi – invite everybody. People won’t just come and join. If there is a wedding or function, we have to send invitations.”
