Maharashtra: 'We run state govt together, not our political parties', Sanjay Raut reacts to Nana Patole's remarks

MUMBAI: Reacting to Nana Patole's statement that Congress will become the number one party in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said that Maha Vikas Aghadi allies (Sena-NCP-Congress) run the state government together, but not their respective parties.
Patole, who is the president of the Maharashtra unit of Congress, earlier in the day stated that a number of people are "miffed" with the party's progress in the state.
"Congress is a principal opposition party. We will be happy if Congress' influence increases. Because that will mean that the influence of the BJP will go down. So what is the model and intention behind Nana Patole speaking of gaining power needs to be researched properly," Raut told mediapersons on Tuesday.
Maintaining his party's stance that there was no friction in the MVA government, Raut went on to say, "If Nana Patole decides to work with his party leadership at the national capital, then the influence of Congress will go up all over the country. There is nothing wrong in that."
Raut added that the MVA government is comprised of three parties, all of which want to uplift their workers and supporters.
"Three parties are running the government. We all want the betterment of our own party. In Maharashtra, we do run the government together, but we run our respective political parties individually," he stated.
Patole had earlier claimed that the Shiv Sena and NCP are keeping a tab on his movements. However, he later backtracked on it and instead said that his statement was misconstrued and was taken out of context.