Sanjay Raut posts cartoon taking potshots at his party Shiv Sena's alliance partner
Mumbai: A day after Maharashtra Assembly election results showed a dip in BJP's tally compared to 2014 polls, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut posted a cartoon to take a dig at his party's senior alliance partner.
The cartoon, posted by Raut on his verified Twitter account, shows a tiger (Shiv Senas party symbol) wearing a clock locket (NCPs party symbol) sniffing a lotus (BJPs party symbol).
While the post is captioned "bura na maano Diwali hai" to denote that it was made in jest, the underlined meesage echoes with what former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan sought to convey about the the Sena, NCP and Congress coming together to prevent BJP from retaining power in Maharashtra.
Chavan had on Thursday spoken of an "interesting possibility", that of the Sena, NCP and Congress aligning to upset the BJP's applecart. In the 288-member Assembly, the BJP won 105 seats, while ally Sena bagged 56. The NCP bagged 54 seats and the Congress emerged victorious in 44 seats.
व्यंग चित्रकाराची कमाल!
— Sanjay Raut (@rautsanjay61) October 25, 2019
बुरा न मानो दिवाली है.. pic.twitter.com/krj2QAnGmB
In the 2014 polls, the BJP had won 122 seats, the Sena 63, the Congress 42 and the NCP 41. Chavan said the results have thrown up an "interesting possibility", but stopped short of indicating if the Congress and NCP will align with the Sena - which he termed as the 'lesser evil' (compared to BJP) - to form the next government in Maharashtra.
In terms of the increase in number of seats compared to the 2014 polls, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP emerged as the largest gainer, while the BJP's tally took a considerable dip.
Meanwhile, the Sena mouthpiece Saamana on Friday had a big headline on its front page, proclaiming that the Uddhav Thackeray-led party has the "keys to power" in Maharashtra.
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Compromised PM didn't sign trade deal with US, but a bargain for Adani's release: Rahul
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of signing a trade deal with the US only to secure the "release" of billionaire businessman Gautam Adani.
"Compromised PM did not strike a trade deal, but a bargain for Adani's release," Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X, after reports that the US has agreed to settle the lawsuit that accused Adani of hiding alleged bribery.
The US government has agreed to settle the lawsuit filed against Adani, who is accused of duping investors by concealing that his company's huge solar energy project in India was being facilitated by an alleged bribery scheme, according to court filings published Thursday.
Reacting to the reports, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said it was now clear why the PM agreed to the "hopelessly one-sided Indo-US trade deal that was really a steal by the US".
"And it is also clear why he abruptly halted Operation Sindoor on May 10, 2025, acting on President Trump's threats rather than on our national interest. Reportedly, the Trump Administration is about to drop all charges of corruption against Modani," he said on X.
"How much more compromised can the PM get?" Ramesh asked.
In the lawsuit filed in late 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission accused Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani, who is a director at the group's renewable energy unit Adani Green Energy Ltd, of agreeing to pay about USD 265 million in bribes to Indian government officials between approximately 2020 and 2024 to obtain lucrative solar energy supply contracts on terms that expected to yield USD 2 billion of profit over 20 years.
It was alleged in the lawsuit that Adani Group raised USD 2 billion in loans and bonds, including from US firms, on the backs of false and misleading statements related to the firm's anti-bribery practices and policies.
The ports-to-energy conglomerate had denied the allegations.
