BJP slams Raut’s X post on Trump’s congratulatory message to PM Modi

Sanjay Raut, Rajya Sabha MP and spokesperson for the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction, criticised Donald Trump on Friday for congratulating Prime Minister Narendra Modi through a social media post on the BJP’s victory in West Bengal. He called the US President’s remarks “premature and misplaced”.

Taking a dig at Sanjay Raut’s criticism of US President Donald Trump message to PM Modi, Chief spokesperson of the BJP for Maharashtra Navnath Ban said at a press conference on Friday, “Trump should have congratulated Sanjay Raut and Uddhav Thackeray for achieving the biggest win in all the elections and for failing to manage his MLAs. Think about what has happened to your party leadership before raising questions about Trump. India’s democracy is not breathing its last, but the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena is certainly taking its last breath after the people made your party sit at home.”

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“When you were with the BJP, you used to get respect. What has become of Uddhav Thackeray’s party today after going with the Congress? The Uddhav Sena has already rotted away in the seven years since it went with the Congress, while the Congress is growing by eroding the Uddhav Sena during the Zilla Parishad, Panchayat Samiti, and assembly elections,” Ban said.

Earlier in the day, Raut tweeted on his X account that the state assembly elections are an internal matter of the country’s democratic system, adding that external endorsements should be made cautiously.

He also tagged his post to the X account of the US President and urged Trump to adopt a “more informed and balanced view” regarding the recently concluded assembly elections in West Bengal.

“As a Member of Parliament from India, I write in response to reports of your congratulations to PM Narendra Modi on the West Bengal Assembly election results. These are state-level elections — an internal matter of India’s federal democracy. Any external endorsement appears premature and misplaced,” Raut wrote on his X account.

He stated that there were serious concerns exist regarding how the West Bengal assembly elections were held amid an atmosphere of fear, violence, and systemic pressure. “There are widespread perceptions that the Election Commission did not act impartially and that its functioning appeared to favor the BJP, raising questions about institutional neutrality,” Raut tweeted.

Raut stated that there are allegations of extensive deployment of central forces which forced people and created compulsion rather than confidence. Senior leaders, including Mamata Banerjee, have publicly raised concerns about the fairness of the process, Raut tweeted on X.

“Democracy is not just about elections. It is about ensuring that they are free, fair and credible. When serious allegations arise, they warrant scrutiny, not celebration. Were these concerns considered before your statement? Given your emphasis on democratic values, I urge a more informed and balanced view,” he concluded.