MNS is being used as a pawn against Uddhav Thackery's Shiv Sena: Sanjay Raut

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut

Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut on Wednesday said the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) was being used to weaken the Shiv Sena (UBT) led by Uddhav Thackeray.

The Sena (UBT) leader was responding to a reporter's question in Mumbai about BJP leader and Maharashtra minister Ashish Shelar meeting MNS chief Raj Thackeray at the latter's residence earlier in the day.

The BJP wanted to form an alliance with the MNS before the assembly elections, but its ally Eknath Shinde, head of the rival Shiv Sena and then Maharashtra chief minister, opposed the idea, Raut claimed.

"MNS is being used as a pawn against Balasaheb Thackeray's Shiv Sena. It is against the very spirit of Maharashtra,” he added.

Raj Thackeray, Bal Thackeray's nephew, parted ways with his uncle's party after falling out with cousin Uddhav and founded the MNS in 2006.

The MNS had declared support to the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections, though it contested independently during the assembly polls that followed. The party's stand could be crucial in the coming elections to the Mumbai civic body.

Raut, meanwhile, also criticised the Election Commission of India, claiming there was a "scam" in EVMs.

The BJP hijacked the Election Commission and manipulated the electoral process, he alleged, referring to alleged instances of EVM tampering in Maharashtra, Haryana and Delhi which the EC has denied.

On the controversial ‘One Nation, One Election’ proposal, Raut termed it as the first step towards consolidating power in the hands of "one party and one leader." He also alleged that the accused in the sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh murder case in Maharashtra's Beed district were being shielded by those in power.