Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Saturday rejected an offer by AIMIM for an alliance with Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition that is in power in Maharashtra, saying those who bow before the grave of Aurangazeb cannot become Maharashtra's ideal and dubbed the Asaduddin Owaisi-led party the "B team" of the BJP. All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MP Imtiaz Jaleel had caused a flutter by suggesting that his party ally with the MVA, saying the three-party dispensation can become a "comfortable four-wheeler" and prevent the BJP from coming to power.

"The AIMIM has a secret alliance with the BJP which was proved in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal elections. The AIMIM is a 'B' team of the BJP and will remain so. The MVA is a three-party alliance and there is no room for a fourth partner," Raut told reporters. He said the MVA partners allies revere Chhatrapati Shivaji and Chhatrapati Sambhaji, while AIMIM bows before the 17th century Mughal emperor Aurangazeb, who had held Shivaji captive for a brief period.

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Raut also mocked Union minister and BJP MP Raosaheb Danve for claiming that 25 disgruntled MLAs of MVA were ready to boycott the ongoing Budget session and that several legislators were in touch with BJP and will cross over once elections draw close. "He (Danve) might be intoxicated due to Holi festivities. Once he comes out of his stupor, he may not even remember what he said," Raut said.

Jaleel, propositioning the MVA, had said, "There is no power left in them (Shiv Sena) to defeat BJP single-handedly. That's why they need the support of Congress and NCP. I propose to add another wheel to the autorickshaw (of Maha Vikas Aghadi) and make it a comfortable car. We have expelled the corporator who had opposed singing of 'Vande Mataram' (in the Aurangabad municipal corporation) and he joined NCP now," Jaleel, who heads the Maharashtra unit of AIMIM, told a Marathi news channel. The Aurangabad MP had rejected Raut's claims that the AIMIM was BJP's 'B' team.

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