Prior to meeting Rahul, Sanjay Raut declares 'MVA a mini-UPA'

New Delhi/Mumbai, Dec 7 Ahead of his meeting with Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, Shiv Sena MP and Chief Spokesperson Sanjay Raut on Tuesday said that the "Maha Vikas Aghadi government is like a mini-United Progressive Alliance" which is doing well.

He said there has been a lot of media speculation whether the Sena is joining the UPA and if it would support the Congress in the upcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Goa and other states.

"The Congress is in power along with Sena and NCP in the MVA and the state government is doing very well. We function on the basis of a Common Minimum Programme, similar to the UPA or even the NDA where parties with different views come together for the national cause," Raut pointed out.

He said in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), during the leadership of the late Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, there were many having ideological differences and some even opposing the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, but they all worked together.

"The MVA also has three parties with dissimilar views working on a common minimum programme. It is an experiment and the MVA is like a mini-UPA... Such experiments must be emulated elsewhere in the country," Raut urged.

Whether the UPA or the Opposition parties, they should come forward and provide alternatives, and this is the viewpoint of both Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray as well as NCP President Sharad Pawar, he asserted.

The two leaders are meeting on Tuesday in Delhi.