On day ED moved against him, Raut with Gadkari at Pawar dinner

At the dinner at NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s residence in New Delhi on Tuesday. (Express photo by Anil Sharma)

The political temperature has been rising in Maharashtra for some time, given the showdown between BJP and Sena, and it was seen to have escalated on Tuesday with the ED action on Raut, who has called it political vendetta.

The presence of Union minister and former BJP president Nitin Gadkari and Raut at Pawar’s dinner, hosted for a group of visiting Maharashtra MLAs, has evoked much political interest. Also present was BJP Lok Sabha MP Nishikant Dubey.

The Maharashtra MLAs are in the national capital to attend a two-day orientation programme organised by the Lok Sabha Secretariat. Earlier, the MLAs met Raut at his residence here over tea.

While some of the leaders said no political meaning should be read into it, the presence of Gadkari and Raut at the dinner at Pawar’s residence did not go unnoticed.