Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday hit out at senior BJP leader and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, calling him the "villain" in Maharashtra politics, and accused him of destroying many families and resorting to political vendetta.

Raut's remarks come a day after Fadnavis offered to step down from post of deputy CM after the BJP’s Lok Sabha seat tally in the state came down from 23 to 9, and said he wants to work "full time" for the party ahead of the assembly elections due later this year.

Raut also asserted that if Narendra Modi tries to become the prime minister for the third time "forcibly", his government will not last and that the RSS was working to look for an alternative.

Talking to reporters in Delhi, the Rajya Sabha member said, "If there is any villain in Maharashtra politics, then it is Devendra Fadnavis. The BJP's drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls is due to Devendra Fadnavis." "Fadnavis has destroyed many families and resorted to political vengeance," he alleged.

Raut also alleged that Modi and Amit Shah tried to enslave the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh after the BJP got brute majority in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, but the RSS is now in a position that they can take a decision and send Modi home.

"If Modi tries to forcibly form the government, it will not last. I can say it with confidence. Modi is facing opposition within the party. My information is that the Sangh's top leadership is working to look for an alternative," Raut claimed.

He said Modi cannot be the prime minister as he has been "defeated" in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

"The elections were fought under him and it (BJP) did not get a majority. The next government will be formed with the help of crutches," the Sena (UBT) leader added.

In Maharashtra, the Mahayuti alliance – comprising BJP, Shiv Sena (led by Eknath Shinde) and NCP (led by Ajit Pawar) got 17 Lok Sabha seats, while the Maha Vikas Aghadi comprising Congress, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) secured 30 seats of the total 48 seats.

The Congress won 13 seats, Shiv Sena (UBT) nine and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) eight seats.

The BJP won nine seats, Shiv Sena seven seats and NCP just one seat, taking the Mahayuti tally to 17.

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