Sanjay Raut slams BJP, says existence of NDA is in question

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the way party-led National Democratic Alliance was working and said there is a lot of difference between "the old NDA and today's NDA".

Talking to reporters here, Raut said they have come to know that the seating arrangements of Shiv Sena MPs in the Rajya Sabha has been changed.

He said the existence of NDA was in question and it is not a domain of any single party.

"There is a question on the existence of NDA. NDA is not the domain of any one party. Several parties have joined the alliance over time. Some of them did not even have the same ideologies. However, we had remained a part of it," Raut told reporters here.

He said four leaders - Balasaheb Thackerey, Atal Bihari Bajpai, LK Adv and Prakash Singh Badal - had mainly formed the alliance.

"There is a lot of difference between the NDA of that time and today's NDA. Who is the convener of NDA today? Advji, who was one of its founders has either left or is inactive," Thackeray said.

The Shiv Sena leader said that any decision was taken with consultations earlier.

"I don't know who is heading the NDA. Back in the days, there used to be a convener of the alliance. Who is heading the NDA now? Earlier, if a decision was taken, it was taken after proper consultation with all the partners," he said.

Shiv Sena had pulled out of BJP-led government earlier this month over differences on government formation in Maharashtra.

Rajya Sabha sources said that seating arrangement of party MPs including Raut and l Desai has been changed and they will sit in the opposition benches during the winter session of parliament.

BJP and Shiv Sena had fought the assembly polls together and won an absolute majority. Shiv Sena had been insisting on chief minister's post for the two-and-a-half-years but BJP said there was no such understanding.

The Shiv Sena is engaged in parleys with the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress to form a non-BJP government.

( With inputs from ANI )