"Sanjay Raut's motive behind raking up the months-old issue of 19 bungalows looks doubtful," he said.
Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patil on Friday targeted Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut and sought to known why he recently raked up the months-old issue of "bungalows" allegedly owned by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's wife in a village in Raigad district.
Mr Patil said question arises whether Raut, a Rajya Sabha MP, did so at someone's behest to weaken the foundation of "Matoshree", the private residence of Thackeray in Mumbai's suburb of Bandra.
"Sanjay Raut's motive behind raking up the months-old issue of 19 bungalows (in Korlai village in Raigad district) looks doubtful. By raking up the issue, the question remains whether he is trying to weaken Matoshree. It seems all this is being done at someone's direction," said the former state minister.
BJP leader Kirit Somaiya had on Wednesday alleged that Raut, during a recent press conference, deliberately referred to the old controversy over "bungalows" in Korlai village as he bore a "grudge" against the Chief Minister and his family members for not backing him when certain allegations were raised against him.
The Sena MP has questioned the very existence of "bungalows" repeatedly mentioned by Mr Somaiya.
On Tuesday, Mr Raut had launched a personal attack against Mr Somaiya, who has been raising a slew of allegations against leaders of the Shiv Sena and those of other parties in the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance in the state.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)