Sanjay Raut, a
member of Parliament from the Shiv Sena, said the party has never said that a
political front would be formed without Congress, according to news agency ANI.
The senior leader’s comment came after a meeting between Shiv Sena chief and
Mumbai Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao and actor
Prakash Raj.

Raut’s comments
gather significance as the Shiv Sena has been talking of a unified opposition
front against the BJP-led Union government.

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While political
leaders in several states have questioned the role an apparently dilapidated
Congress can play in said unity, including West Bengal CM and Trinamool
Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, the Shiv Sena has maintained Congress’
relevance. The party runs an alliance government with Congress and the
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in Maharashtra.

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“We never said
that a political front would be formed without the Congress. At the time when
Mamata Banerjee had suggested a political front, the Shiv Sena was the first
political party that talked about taking the Congress along,” said Raut.

Meanwhile,
Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR), chief of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti
(TRS), who has emerged as a vocal critic of the BJP recently, is taking
measures to unite opposition parties across the political spectrum. KCR’s
meeting with Uddhav Thackeray was such an effort.

Earlier this week,
Uddhav Thackeray dialled KCR and extended support to the TRS chief’s efforts to
unite regional parties “to join forces against the Centre.”

At the time, Sanjay
Raut said, “Developments on the national level have started in regards to 2024
and this is an important step in that direction…Uddhav ji, Sharad Pawar, Mamata
Banerjee, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka ji, all are in contact with each other.”

Talks of an
opposition front sans Congress have been doing the rounds in political circles
over time. However, flames were fanned when Mamata Banerjee, following her
meeting with NCP chief Sharad Pawar two months ago, said, “Where is UPA? There
is no UPA.”