Sanjay Raut said that its not about the age on Ajit Pawar's age jibe at Sharad Pawar. (File)
The centre is trying to target Rahul Gandhi, said Sanjay Raut of the Uddhav Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena, expressing hope that the Congress leader will get justice in the defamation case over his "Modi surname" remark.
His remark came hours after the Gujarat High Court upheld a sessions court order convicting Mr Gandhi in the criminal defamation case.
"We are hopeful that Rahul Gandhi would get justice from the higher court and his plea would be heard and his disqualification as MP would be revoked. Centre was trying to target him," said Mr Raut.
He said, "Due to Ajit Pawar, they (the Shinde faction) left Shiv Sena, and now they have formed an alliance again. Eknath Shinde and his 40 thieves are now saying that the government has become stronger and they are friends. This is all pretence."
Mr Raut further said, "There's no need for mediation to talk to Raj Thackeray. Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray are brothers. My friendship with Raj Thackeray is known to everybody. Our political paths have separated but we have shared a large part of our lives with each other. We still have an emotional attachment. Both of them can talk to each other over the phone."
On Ajit Pawar's age jibe at Sharad Pawar, Sanjay Raut said, "Sharad Pawar always inspires us. Balasaheb Thackeray was 84-86 years old, we always drew inspiration and strength from him. It is not about the age."
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)