Telegraph file pictureThe Shiv Sena on Sunday sought to know why top BJP leaders held so many rallies for the Maharashtra Assembly polls, when state chief minister Devendra Fadnavis feels there is no Opposition left in the fray to challenge his party-led alliance. "The chief minister has been asserting that the Opposition 'does not exist' any more in the poll campaign. "Though Fadnavis said he is not facing any Opposition challenge, in reality there is an electoral challenge, which forced the BJP leaders to hold so many rallies," Raut, the Marathi daily's executive editor, claimed in his column 'RokhThok'. The chief minister said his party feels there should be smaller states, but when to take the decision is upto the central leadership. Raut also claimed that the run up to Monday's state polls saw the highest number of political defections.

Source: The Telegraph October 20, 2019 09:55 UTC