Rumours won’t get anyone anything: Sanjay Raut on Sharad Pawar, Amit Shah meeting

Mumbai, Mar 29: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Monday rejected speculations that Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and Union home minister Amit Shah secretly met in Gujarat.

"Some things should become clear with time, otherwise confusion is created. I can say with confidence that no secret meeting has been held between Sharad Pawar and Amit Shah in Ahmedabad or anywhere. Now put an end to the rumours. It will not get anyone anything," Raut's tweet, roughly translated from Hindi, said.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday refrained from confirming the reports of his meeting with NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, saying that "everything can't be made public".

"There is nothing to raise eyebrows over the rumoured meeting between Sharad Pawar and Amit Shah. In fact, a dialogue between leaders of opposition (rival) parties is good. I am saying this provided they actually met each other in Ahmedabad," the Sena MP was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

Raut further said even if Pawar and Shah had met, there was nothing to read too much into it.

"If it was really a secret meeting, how come it (news about it) came out," he said.

Raut also said the three-party alliance in Maharashtra will not be affected by the outcome of the Assembly polls in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu or other states.

Pawar is part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government which is facing allegations of corruption levelled by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh against state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh.

Days after he was shunted as Mumbai police commissioner, Singh wrote a letter to the CM claiming Deshmukh, a senior NCP leader, had asked Waze and other police officers to collect Rs 100 crore monthly from bars and hotels in Mumbai.