Shivsena (UBT) Chief Uddhav Thackeray with MP Sanjay Raut. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

Water Resources Department Minister and senior BJP leader Girish Mahajan criticised Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Tuesday (June 3, 2025) for his comment that Mr. Mahajan would be the first man to desert the party after the BJP lost power.

Speaking to journalists, Mr. Mahajan said that the Shiv Sena (UBT) had been undermined by Sanjay Raut’s statements. “Every morning, Sanjay Raut wakes up and calls journalists to issue something sensational. His attitude has left the Shiv Sena (UBT) on the verge of collapse. With him around, Uddhav Thackeray requires no political enemy. Raut, the broker, is there to do the job.”

“Brokers like Raut have driven leaders and grassroot party workers away from the Shiv Sena (UBT). As a consequence, when the BJP and Shiv Sena parted ways in the 2019 assembly elections, he pushed Uddhav Thackeray closer to Sharad Pawar and the Congress and inflicted the maximum damage on his own party. If Uddhav Thackeray fails to rein in Raut, the Shiv Sena (UBT) will collapse for sure.”

On Raut’s remark that he was a potential deserter if the BJP lost, Mr. Mahajan said he was a party Swayamsevak (volunteer) and seven-term MLA who would do anything to strengthen the party. “I will never do what Sanjay Raut did to his party by engaging in something that does not bring any good to the party and its people. Today, I am one of the most senior leaders in the BJP. I have been in the Opposition for twenty years despite receiving several offers to switch alliances.”