Assembly polls: SP in UP, Cong in Goa have advantage over BJP, says Sena’s Raut

Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday said the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party has an edge over the ruling BJP in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls currently underway.

Goa was facing a ”khichdi” situation but the Congress has an advantage over the BJP, which has been in power in the neighbouring state since 2012, he added.

”Devendra Fadnavis (the BJP’s Goa election in charge) is doing all he can to ensure BJP wins. Our best wishes since he is a Maharashtra leader. But he knows the current power in Goa is with the corrupt and mafia,” Raut said.

He said Utpal Parrikar, son of former chief minister late Manohar Parrikar, was getting a good response from the people of Panaji.

Utpal was denied a ticket by the BJP, which opted for sitting MLA Atanasio Monserrate, who crossed over from the Congress to the ruling party in 2019.

Raut also said Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray will campaign for Shiv Sena candidates in Uttar Pradesh, where the ruling BJP and the Samajwadi Party are the main contenders.

Queried about Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s comment that the BJP had never asked for proof of Rahul Gandhi’s parentage, which has been widely condemned as distasteful, Raut said Sarma was targeting the Congress despite the party doing a lot for him.

”Sarma has spent his entire life in the Congress. He has worked with the Congress leadership and the party has made him what he is today. BJP picked him because he had the stature. Now, he is targeting the same leaders and the party which gave him stature,” Raut said.

Goa will go to polls on February 14, with results in the coastal state and UP being declared on March 10.