Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut alleged Chief Minister Shinde himself is involved in the NIT land scam. File
| Photo Credit: PTI
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on December 27 said the Opposition would be cornering the entire Maharashtra cabinet over corruption and not just one or two ministers.
He feels sympathy for deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis who has to defend his “corrupt” colleagues, Mr. Raut said, speaking to reporters.
“The Opposition is not going to target only a couple of ministers in the Eknath Shinde-Fadnavis cabinet but the entire cabinet is going to be in trouble. I am sympathetic to Mr. Fadnavis because he has to defend those who are mired in corruption,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.
Earlier, Mr. Raut’s comment that his party “would drop a couple of bomb-shells” during the ongoing winter session had gone viral.
The Opposition Sena (UBT), NCP and Congress targeted agriculture minister Abdul Sattar after the Bombay High Court last week issued him a notice over the transfer of 37 acres of common village land to a private person in Washim district.
A similar allegation was also levelled against minister Sanjay Rathod.
But Mr. Fadnavis termed the allegations as “minor firecrackers”.
Responding to Mr. Fadnavis’s remark, Mr. Raut said, “Chief Minister Shinde himself is involved in the NIT land scam, and you call it a minor firecracker? I am sympathetic to Mr. Fadnavis that he has to defend corrupt ministers.”
The Opposition tried to corner Mr. Shinde last week over the regularisation of a disputed piece of land of the Nagpur Improvement Trust.
“As the Leader of Opposition, Mr. Fadnavis was extremely critical of the then ruling government but he is now going soft on his own corrupt colleagues,” the Sena leader further said.
