"Don't Be Surprised If Sena's Suryayaan Lands In Delhi": Sanjay Raut

The Shiv Sena's latest breakthrough in Maharashtra after weeks of chaotic manoeuvring marked with twists and surprises has given the party confidence to look at going to Delhi, according to its vocal troubleshooter Sanjay Raut.

The Shiv Sena in coming out unscathed after cutting ties with the BJP - the Maharashtra party withdrew its only minister from the Union government to signal it meant business - is not ruling out sending a "suryayaan" to Delhi.

"I have been saying this from the first day that we will form government. I have said that our suryayaan will land safely on the sixth floor of the mantralaya (secretariat). But everyone was laughing at us. Now our suryayaan has landed safely," Mr Raut told news agency ANI after MLAs in the state took oath today, a day before Mr Raut's colleague and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray also takes oath as the next Chief Minister of Maharashtra.

"People shouldn't be surprised if Sena's suryayaan lands in Delhi," Mr Raut said, drawing an analogy to a craft that would fly to a difficult destination as the sun, in this case Delhi.

While negotiations to form government in a new alliance with Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress were going on in recent weeks, Mr Raut was one of the most visible Sena leaders who dashed from one leader's house to another, including a trip to Delhi to test the water with the Congress leadership. It was during one of his runs that he complained of chest pain and had to be taken to a hospital.

"The chief minister will take oath tomorrow. The role of Ajit Pawar is clear. When he took oath on Saturday as Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, I said that he will return. I have also said that one would have to take 100 years to understand," Mr Raut said of Sharad Pawar's nephew, who in a surprise move took oath as Mr Fadnavis's deputy against the wish of the party chief. Ajit Pawar resigned yesterday, followed by Mr Fadnavis, when it became clear the BJP did not have the number to form government in Maharashtra.

State parties looking to make it big in Delhi is an aspirational trend, as was also expressed by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party in 2014, when it contested the general election after getting encouraging signs in the Delhi election a year before. The newly formed AAP won 28 of 70 seats in Delhi in 2013, but couldn't do well in the 2014 national election. A year later, it swept the Delhi election winning 67 of the 70 seats.

Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav has often told reporters he would want to see his party in Delhi, so did Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati.

With inputs from ANI