CM Fadnavis called him: Sanjay Raut over Dhananjay Munde's resignation amid sarpanch murder row

Speaking to the media, Raut claimed that Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis himself called Munde and asked for his resignation.

"He (Dhananjay) is fine, his health is completely okay. The Chief Minister himself called him and said that if you don't resign, I will have to dismiss you. It was the biggest mistake to administer the oath of office to Dhananjay," Raut said.

On Tuesday, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Dhananjay Munde submitted his resignation as minister, which Fadnavis accepted and forwarded to the Governor for further action.

Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan accepted the resignation of Munde, who was Minister of Food and Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection.

The development follows after Munde's close aide, Walmik Karad, was sent to judicial custody in January this year in a Rs 2 crore extortion case allegedly linked to the murder case of Beed's sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh.

Further, speaking on Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Azmi's remarks on Aurangzeb, Sanjay Raut said what Azmi said about Aurangzeb was intended to help someone.

"In the Legislative Assembly, these people were getting trapped regarding Dhananjay Munde, so the BJP issued an order to Abu Azmi to give some statement. After that, drama was created there. Abu Azmi and Owaisi always indulge in such acts," he said.

On Tuesday, Abu Azmi said that his words had been twisted and that he was ready to take back his statement and apologise if sentiments were hurt.

"My words have been twisted. I have said what historians and writers have claimed about Aurangzeb Rahmatullah Ali," Azmi said.

"I have not made any derogatory comment about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Sambhaji Maharaj or any other great men - but still if anyone has been hurt by my statement, then I take back my words, my statement," Azmi said in a video on his X. (ANI)