Against the backdrop of the Haryana Assembly polls verdict, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) ally Shiv Sena (UBT) took a jibe at the Congress and a swipe at the ruling MahaYuti for their respective stance and comments on the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections. Wagging a finger at ally Congress, SS(UBT) MP and Chief Spokesperson Sanjay Raut said, “Nobody should consider themselves as the ‘Big Brother’ in the MVA”, and urged the need to treat all as equals in the group comprising Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

Thumbing the nose at the MahaYuti Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Raut reminded him that in Maharashtra, there is the strong MVA which will confront the ruling alliance of Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party-Nationalist Congress Party in the state polls. “The MVA is strong and fully united, it will go to elections together. Shinde must not forget this… Haryana results are limited to that state, Maharashtra is different and won’t be impacted,” claimed Raut.

Last night, CM Shinde said that casteism lost and development was victorious with the BJP’s Haryana hat-trick that shattered the dreams of the opponents there. “The people of Maharashtra will also not fall into the trap of such fake narratives and this development journey of the double-engine government will continue here as well, we are fully confident,” declared CM Shinde.

Doling out some advice to the Congress, Raut said that wherever that party is weak, it needs the support of local parties, but it should learn to accommodate them as much as possible, unlike in Haryana. “Otherwise the consequences are there, witness what happened in Haryana, where the Congress fell short of just nine seats and lost,” said Raut.

Raut hinted at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for gnawing into the Congress votes in Haryana. He cautioned that it is for the Congress to take a call but if it tries to contest solo everywhere, other parties can follow suit, and “the Haryana lesson is there for all” to learn.

He pointed out that the over-confident Congress leaders in Haryana felt they could win on their own strength and did not need anybody else’s support, but in the final tally, the BJP won a lost battle when the Congress was on the verge of victory.

Training guns at the BJP, Raut contended that though both Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir have their own relevance, “Jammu & Kashmir was most important for the saffron party”, as it lost in the crucial border-state from where Article 370 was scrapped.