Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut is well known for criticising the BJP and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis regularly, but he ended up praising Fadnavis on Friday in Mumbai, surprising several political observers.

He said that he had previously worked together with Fadnavis and that his initiatives to bring Naxalism to an end in the Naxalite- infested Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra must be appreciated.

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Incidentally, Raut also wrote an editorial piece in the Shiv Sena’s daily Marathi newspaper called Saamna praising Fadnavis. Talking about the Saamna editorial praising Fadnavis, Raut said, “We have praised him because his government has done a good job. If Naxalites surrendered and opted for the constitutional path, we welcome that. The earlier ‘guardian minister’ could have done it, but instead, he appointed his agents and collected money which only increased Naxalism in Gadchiroli. We have worked with Devendra Fadnavis in the past, and that relationship continues”.

Raut expressed the hope that Gadchiroli will become “steel city of Maharashtra” and more industries will come up in that region. “If a district like Gadchiroli can become developed, it is good for the whole state. If it becomes the steel city of Maharashtra, there is nothing better than that. If all this happens due to the initiative of Devendra Fadnavis and if we do not appreciate it, then that will not be the right thing,” said Raut who is a well known critic of Fadnavis.