Mumbai | Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Tuesday claimed that Devendra Fadnavis has not shifted to `Varsha', the official residence of the Maharashtra Chief Minister in south Mumbai, because of superstition.

The grapevine has it that buffaloes allegedly slaughtered in Guwahati during Eknath Shinde's visit to the Kamakhya temple were buried on the premises of `Varsha' so that the CM's post should not stay with anybody else other than Shinde, he said.

Fadnavis succeeded Shinde as chief minister following the November 2024 assembly elections.

"Why isn't Devendra Fadnavis not moving into `Varsha'? The CM has said even if he moves there, he will not sleep there. What is this? The `limbu samrat, limbu mirchi' (a reference to those who practise black magic) of the Shiv Sena should respond to this," said Raut, a member of the Rajya Sabha.

`Limbu' (lemon) and `mirchi' (chilli) are supposedly used by black magic practitioners.

"I have heard there were discussions within the BJP that the horns of the buffaloes sacrificed in Guwahati were buried in the lawns of Varsha....there is talk that the horns were brought here so that the CM's post should not stay with anyone else, this is what the staff says," Raut told reporters.

While there was no immediate reaction from the chief minister's aides to Raut's claims, Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde, now deputy CM, told reporters on a sarcastic note: "Raut is an expert in that field. He should know." In the past, Raut had alleged that buffaloes were slaughtered at Guwahati after Shinde revolted against Uddhav Thackeray and camped at a hotel in the Assam city with other rebel Shiv Sena MLAs before returning to Maharashtra and becoming chief minister by toppling the Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government.

Raut, meanwhile, demanded an explanation from Fadnavis about why he was not living at `Varsha', a "pride of the state." Maharashtra is a progressive state with a tradition of social reformers like Mahatma Phule, Prabodhankar Thackeray and Gadge Maharaj who assailed superstitions, he said, adding that yet superstition has now taken over the corridors of power