Agneepath, Agneepath, Agneepath: Sanjay Raut's 'Vijay Dinanath Chauhanesque' Tweet Shows Shiv Sena's Tough Path

Senior Shiv Sena leader and Saamana’s executive editor Sanjay Raut’s penchant for Bollywood and everything filmy is well-known. He is often quotes movie dialogues or couplets by famous poets, which have a subtle or straight message. During the ongoing Maharashtra turmoil, Raut made quite a statement by tweeting famous lines. From Wasim Barelvi to Atal Bihari Vajpayee to Dushyant Kumar, Raut has been tweeting famous poets and authors to comment on the crisis in the state. Latest in the series of these poetic tweets was Raut quoting Harivansh Rai Bachchan’s legendary ‘Agneepath’.

In a single tweet – Agneepath, Agneepath, Agneepath- Raut pointed to tough road ahead for his party. The word is title of Harivansh Rai Bachchan’s iconic poem. It is also a title of the cult Bollywood classic in 1990s. Incidentally, the movie starred Harivansh Rai Bachchan’s son Amitabh – the bedrock of Hindi film industry.

On November 11 when the Shiv Sena was in middle of backdoor negotiations with the NCP and the Congress, Raut had tweeted a dialogue of Ajay Devgn-starrer ‘Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai’. Raaste ki parwah karoonga toh manzil bura maan jayegi – said the tweet.    

The Shiv Sena on Tuesday alleged that Maharashtra Governor BS Koshyari’s decision of denying time extension to present letters of support from NCP and Congress in order to prove that they have enough numbers to form the government in the state was "unconstitutional, unreasonable and mala fide". The Sena was given deadline till Monday 7:30 pm to convince the Governor that they have enough numbers to form the government in Maharashtra, which has been gripped in a massive political uncertainty ever since the results were declared on October 24.

While the NCP was ready with its letter of support, it was Congress that took time to decide on whether they should ally with Sena, a party with the Grand Old Party has massive ideological differences. However, Uddhav Thackeray was in the direct touch with Congress president Sonia Gandhi and asked Governor to give the Shiv Sena 48 hours time extension to prove majority.

Governor Koshyari, however, rejected Shiv Sena's request and recommended the President's rule in the state. BJP-led Narendra Modi government in the Centre also made the same recommendation even as the Shiv Sena continues to seek time to prove numbers.