Despite phone tapping by Home Ministry, we formed govt in Maharashtra: Sanjay Raut

Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut on Friday said that despite the Union Home Ministry allegedly tapping the phones of Shiv Sena leaders, including his, the party managed to form the government in Maharashtra with the NCP and the Congress.

"Phone tapping is done in politics these days, I don't take it very seriously. The Home Ministry is habituated to tap phones and keep an eye on their opponents. But despite them indulging in snooping, we formed the government in Maharashtra," the Sena leader said.

Earlier in the day, Raut claimed that a senior leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had informed him about the tapping of his phone by the government.

"I have been informed by a senior BJP minister that my phone is being tapped," Raut claimed in a tweet.

In the same tweet, he also said that he welcomes whoever wants to overhear his conversation.

"I am a disciple of Balasaheb Thackeray. I don't say or do anything behind the curtain. So go ahead with it (snooping)," he added.

The Shiv Sena, that had fought Maharashtra state Assembly elections in alliance with the BJP, parted ways with its decades-long ally over the rotational chief ministership. The Sena wanted its chief minister for half of the five-year term of the government.

The Sena went on to form the government with its political rivals -- the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress -- amid a high voltage drama.