Mumbai, June 17 -- BJP MLA Ashishrao Deshmukh on Wednesday claimed that Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut was working towards a merger of Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar's faction with the Congress.

Speaking to ANI, Deshmukh said, "I have heard that Sanjay Raut wants all UBT MLAs and MPs to merge with Congress. With this, Sharad Pawar will be appointed the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, and Uddhav Thackeray will be appointed president of the Maharashtra Congress. Sanjay Raut is working on this. Being upset with such a development, UBT MPs might have come to Delhi to meet the Lok Sabha Speaker.

He further alleged that he had "credible information" suggesting that Raut intended to facilitate the merger of Ud...