Sanjay Raut quotes Hindi verse to take dig at Fadnavis
Mumbai: In a veiled dig at Maharashtra's acting chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday used a Hindi verse to imply that the BJP leader is a new entrant in the big game of politics.
The BJP and its ally Shiv Sena are locked in a bitter tussle on sharing the chief minister's post, resulting in a stalemate over government formation in the state.
Hitting out at 49-year-old Fadnavis without taking his name, Raut in a tweet said, "Jo khandaani raees hain wo mizaj rakhte hain narm apna, tumhara lehja bataa rahaa hai, tumhari daulat nayi nayi hai" (those rich by hereditary have a soft temperament, your tone shows your wealth is newly acquired).
The Rajya Sabha member last week also quoted words of a Hindi poet on his Twitter handle to take aim at the BJP.
Fadnavis, who started his political career in the 1990s, while resigning as the chief minister on Friday, blamed ally Shiv Sena for the deadlock over government formation after the recent Assembly polls.
After quitting, Fadnavis, who was the youngest mayor of Nagpur and represented the Nagpur-South West Assembly seat since 1999, said it was a shock for the BJP when the Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray declared soon after the results that "all options were open for the Sena to form the government".
On the Shiv Sena's contention that the two parties had decided before the Lok Sabha polls that the chief minister's post will be shared for two-and-half-years each, Fadnavis said no such decision was taken in his presence.
Later, Thackeray strongly countered Fadnavis' claim and said there will be no talks with the BJP unless it accepted that the two allies had decided to share the chief minister's post.
Thackeray said he will fulfill the promise made to his father, late Bal Thackeray, to install a Shiv Sena chief minister in the state. In the October 21 state Assembly polls, the BJP won 105 seats, Shiv Sena-56, NCP-54 and the Congress won 44 seats.
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RCB beat MI by 18 runs after batters fire
Mumbai (PTI): Royal Challengers Bengaluru skipper Rajat Patidar, Phil Salt and Virat Kohli blasted half-centuries as the defending champions beat Mumbai Indians by 18 runs in an Indian Premier League match here on Sunday.
Salt (78 off 36 balls) and Kohli (50 off 38 balls) stitched together a 120-run stand for the opening wicket before Patidar scored a rapid 53 off just 20 balls as RCB posted 240 for 4.
In response, Mumbai Indians were restricted to 222 for 5, with RCB spinner Suyash Sharma (2/47) putting the skids on the home side with a double strike in the eighth over, from which they could not recover.
Sherfane Rutherford top-scored for MI with an unbeaten 71 off 31 balls.
While opener Rohit Sharma appeared to be struggling with a hamstring issue and had to retire hurt on 19, his partner Ryan Rickelton made 37, while Suryakumar Yadav (33) and Hardik Pandya (40) were the other contributors for MI.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 240 for 4 in 20 overs (Phil Salt 78, Virat Kohli 50, Rajat Patidar 53, Tim David 35 not out).
Mumbai Indians: 222 for 5 in 20 overs (Sherfane Rutherford 71 not out, Ryan Rickelton 37, Hardik Pandya 40; Suyash Sharma 2/47).
