Sanjay Raut said if there is no opposition party democracy of the country becomes weak (File)

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday praised former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the Congress for respecting parliamentary democracy, taking a dig at the opposition leaders who are queuing up to join the ruling Shiv Sena and the BJP ahead of the assembly elections in Maharashtra.

"The water scarcity in Marathawada is as important as the abrogation of Article 370 (which withdrew special status of Jammu and Kashmir), but no one is leaving the party citing that particular issue.

"Even if there is a drought everywhere, the BJP and the Sena are witnessing an influx of leaders from other parties. Politics is a difficult art but now some people have made it simple," wrote Mr Raut.

He was apparently referring to the common refrain of the political turncoats that they were quitting their parent parties for the sake of voters and developing their respective constituencies.

"If one tries to simplify the art of politics by breaking parliamentary etiquette, the democracy will fall apart. There can be a difference of opinion about Jawaharlal Nehru and the Congress but they respected the etiquette in parliamentary democracy. It was the Congress which introduced certain rules, etiquette and traditions in parliament after Independence," he said.

Mr Raut also credited the Congress for the formation of Business Advisory Committee (BAC) and introduction of the calling attention motion as parliamentary tools, which he said are unique to India.

"It was Jawaharlal Nehru who recognised the importance of Opposition party in the country. When the Opposition party was weak initially, he used to say that he had to play the roles of a PM as well as the leader of the opposition," he said.

Mr Raut said that even former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee of BJP followed Jawaharlal Nehru.

"If there is no opposition party democracy of country becomes weak and politics become arbitrary or unilateral," Mr Raut stated.

He said parties need to guard themselves against the turncoats standing at the doorsteps of "heaven" (read BJP or Shiv Sena).

"If these people become a gardener of paradise, the heaven will turn it into hell.

"For these people their parent parties such as the Congress, the NCP, the Samajwadi Party, the TDP, the TMC etc used to be heavens but now they are in the race to change the heavens...the paradise should not turn into hell," he stated.