Sanjay Raut hits out at Fadnavis’ claim that erstwhile MVA govt. had planned to arrest him 

Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Rubbishing Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ claim that the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by former CM Uddhav Thackeray had given police officers a ‘contract’ to arrest him, Shiv Sena (UT) leader Sanjay Raut said that Mr. Thackeray had been a “cultured” CM, adding that Mr. Fadnavis was resorting to blatant falsehoods by making such remarks.

Speaking in Nashik, Mr. Raut further said that the tripartite MVA alliance — of the Nationalist Congress Party, the Congress and the Sena (UT) — stood “firmly united”, while predicting that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would be utterly routed in the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly by-polls in the Kasba Peth and Chinchwad segments in Pune.

Responding to Mr. Fadnavis’ recent statements that the MVA government had reportedly planned to arrest him, Mr. Raut said: “No one [in the MVA government] would have thought of doing such a thing… Uddhav Thackeray was a cultured and civilized Chief Minister. Who arrests the State’s Opposition Leader in this manner? [Mr. Fadnavis was Opposition Leader during the MVA’s tenure].”

‘Blatant lies’

An editorial today in the Sena (UT) mouthpiece Saamana, where Mr. Raut is executive editor, accused Mr. Fadnavis of “blatant lying” with his claims, remarking that “did not suit the RSS’  culture.”

“Mr. Fadnavis was the state Opposition leader and a former Chief Minister. He was leading 105 MLAs. Why did such a leader harbour fear of his arrest? He ought to clarify in which case he feared arrest. What connection he had with the case and what happened to that case?” the editorial said.

In March last year, Mr. Fadnavis, who was the Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, had accused Mr. Thackeray’s MVA of attempting to pressurise him in connection with a case of illicit phone tapping.

Tables turned

At the time, Mr. Fadnavis had attributed the ruling government’s action — of directing the Mumbai Police to issue a notice against him — as a malicious response to the scams of the MVA government’s Ministers that he had been exposing. Mr. Fadnavis had also claimed that the Mumbai Police were trying to make him a co-accused in the matter, while the MVA at the time had stated it was not acting vindictively against the BJP leader.

Following the regime change after Eknath Shinde’s coup of splitting the Shiv Sena which led to the fall of the MVA, Mr. Fadnavis, now in the driver’s seat, has been charging the tripartite coalition with malicious intent to get him arrested.

In a riposte to Mr. Fadnavis, Mr. Raut said that the MVA never behaved in the manner in which the current Maharashtra government, led by the BJP’s Eknath Shinde, had done after they seized power in June last year.

Voter anger

“[NCP leader] Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik had to endure jail because of false charges against them. At that time, didn’t you think that how your political colleagues, despite being in the opposition, were feeling? When you all [BJP] let loose central agencies upon us, we boldly faced them,” Mr. Raut said, lashing out at the BJP’s flagrant misuse of central agencies against other party leaders.

Meanwhile, Mr. Raut said that the MVA faced “an exam” in the Assembly by-polls slated for February 26 in the Pune area, but added that the coalition would emerge victorious with flying colours.  

“There is a lot of anger among voters against the BJP and affection for the [Uddhav Thackeray-led] Shiv Sena. The BJP has always taken voters for granted…The people are upset about the manner in which the Shiv Sena was split by the BJP and will teach them a lesson as they did in the recent MLC polls,” said Mr. Raut.