Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has issued a notice to Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut over a “defamatory” article which claimed that Shinde tried to ensure the defeat of ally NCP’s candidates in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. Raut shared on X the legal notice dated May 28, adding that it was a “very interesting” and “funny political document”. Sources close to the chief minister confirmed that such a notice has been issued.

The notice said that in his column in the Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana on May 26, Raut made a false statement that CM Shinde spent “unlimited amount of money” and distributed crores of rupees in each constituency. The article further claimed that Shinde did all this to ensure the defeat of the candidates of the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party, it said. These statements were not only false but “defamatory and scandalous”, and made to mislead the people and create unrest, the notice said.