News Analysis India

Tag: Sanjay Raut

  • NIA taking over Ambani bomb scare case amounts to demoralising Mumbai Police: Sanjay Raut

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday alleged that the NIA taking over the probe into the recovery of an explosives-laden SUV near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence here amounted to demoralising the Mumbai Police and creating instability in Maharashtra.

    Talking to reporters here, Raut also said Mumbai Police officer Sachin Waze, arrested late Saturday night by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), is an “honest, successful officer and a good investigator”.

    “The state government’s prestige is at stake in this case,” the Rajya Sabha member said.

    Meanwhile, state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh told reporters in Nagpur that the ATS and NIA were probing the recovery of the explosives-laden vehicle and the case of Hiran’s death.

    “The truth will come out and action will be taken accordingly,” he said.

    When asked if Waze would be suspended, Deshmukh did not comment.

    A Scorpio found parked near Ambani’s house on Carmichael Road in south Mumbai on February 25 contained some gelatin sticks and a threat letter.

    Waze, an “encounter specialist”, is also facing heat in the murder case of Thane-based businessman Mansukh Hiran who was in possession of the Scorpio.

    Hiran was found dead in a creek in Thane district on March 5.

    The state Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) is investigating the Hiran murder case.

    It had registered an FIR against unidentified persons days after Hiran’s body was found.

    Raut said the Mumbai Police were capable of investigating both the cases and involvement of central agencies “wasn’t required”.

    “They (Mumbai Police) are capable and professional. They can’t be pressurised. The NIA taking over the probe amounts to creating pressure and terror of the central government by lowering the morale of the police and destabilising the state,” he alleged.

    The Shiv Sena’s chief spokesperson further charged that Waze’s arrest by the NIA amounted to encroaching upon the rights of the police and an attack on their capabilities.

    Raut said state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had handed over the probe to the ATS, but the NIA entered the scene to probe the recovery of 20 gelatin sticks in the Scorpio.

    To a question on sections under which Waze has been charged, Raut said, “There is a difference between charges being levelled and the charges being proved.”

    “The state government’s prestige is at stake in this case,” he further said.

    Raut also said the government should take “very seriously” the issue of sensitive information reaching the opposition leaders first.

    The opposition should explain what the CBI’s probe found into the case of actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death which the Mumbai Police had not investigated.

    In his weekly column ‘Rokhtok’ in the Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, Raut said it was not a good sign for the state government that Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Devendra Fadnavis had “access first” to all confidential documents in case of the explosives-laden SUV and Hiran’s mysterious death.

    He said the present controversy has enabled the opposition to “regain its lost confidence”.

    “What was happening in the state currently was not good for its prestige,” he said.

    Raut said Sanjay Rathod had to resign as state minister over the Puja Chavan suicide case, while the opposition targeted Sachin Waze in the case Manuskh Hiran’s death.

    “But, the opposition is not ready to speak on the cases of suicide of (interior designer) Anvay Naik and (Dadra and Nagar Haveli Lok Sabha member) Mohan Delkar,” he said.

    Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami and two others were arrested on November 4 last year by Raigad police in connection with the suicide of Anvay Naik and his mother in 2018. They were granted bail by the Supreme Court a few days later. Delkar (58) was found dead in a hotel in south Mumbai last month.

    Dubbing the recovery of gelatin sticks from the vehicle found near Ambani’s residence and Hiran’s death as a “mystery”, Raut said, “But, there is a difference between mystery and truth.”

    He said Hiran left his house for the last time saying a police official called “Tawde” had called him to Kandivali police station.

    “But, there is no official by that name in Kandivali. All this is very complicated. An external force is controlling some groups in the Mumbai and Thane police forces,” Raut claimed, adding that it is not good if factionalism in the police force shows up again.

  • Maharashtra-Karnataka border row: Sanjay Raut calls for all-party visit to Belgaum

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday alleged that Marathi people residing in Karnataka’s Belgaum were being victimised, and said an all-party delegation from Maharashtra should visit the city in the neighbouring state to resolve the ongoing stand-off.

    Talking to reporters, Raut said that in the last eight days there have been instances of attack on Shiv Sena leaders and the party’s office in Belgaum by pro-Kannada outfits.

    “Belgaum is part of India and the Maharashtra- Karnataka dispute is a language dispute.

    Itshouldn’t be stretched too far and this is the responsibility of the Karnataka government too,” he said.

    “If the situation goes out of hand, the Shiv Sena and the Maharashtra government shouldn’t be blamed since the response would not be official, but political,” the Sena’s Rajya Sabha member said.

    Raut blamed the Centre for the situation in Belgaum, saying that it can see violence in West Bengal and places where BJP is contesting elections, but “turning a blind eye” to the developments in Belgaum.

    “The Maharashtra government will have to take a firm stand. An all-party delegation should visit Belgaum soon to show unity with the Marathi people suffering the high- handedness there,” he said.

    The Sena leader alleged that Kannada outfit Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, which is attacking the Shiv Sena activists, is sponsored by the BJP.

    “No one from the BJP is speaking about it. The Shiv Sena can also respond in equal measure, but we don’t want to create a rift between the two states. The Centre should intervene,” he said.

    Raut said the fresh stand-off was an attempt to divert the attention from the sex CD scandal allegedly involving a former Karnataka minister.

    He lamented that despite the boundary dispute being a sub-judice matter, Karnataka constructed a Vidhan Bhavan in Belgaum and made it the second capital of the state.

  • 1975 Emergency an outdated issue, should be buried: Raut

    Raut also questioned Congress leader Rahul Gandhi #39;s move of expressing regret over the Emergency imposed by his grandmother and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

  • Will contest 20-25 seats in 2022 Goa Assembly polls: Shiv Sena

    By PTI
    PANAJI: Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday said his party will contest 20-25 seats in the Goa Assembly polls scheduled to be held next year.

    He claimed there was large-scale unrest against the BJP government here but the opposition was unable to take advantage of it, and this was giving space to parties like AAP which surfaced only during polls in Goa.

    Those who question the strength of the Shiv Sena in Goa must contest polls on their own in the state rather than on the strength of alliances, Raut added.

  • Sena not to contest Bengal polls, stands in solidarity with ‘real tigress’ Mamata Banerjee

    By ANI
    MUMBAI: Wishing ‘roaring’ success to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Maharashtra Chief Minister Udhhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena party has decided not to contest the West Bengal Assembly polls, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut announced on Thursday.

    The decision was taken after a discussion with Thackeray.

    Raut, who on January 17 had said Shiv Sena will contest the West Bengal Assembly Elections, on Thursday said the party will stand in solidarity with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

    “A lot of people are curious to know whether Shiv Sena is contesting West Bengal Polls or not? So here’s the update after discussions with Party President Uddhav ji Thackeray. Looking at the present scenario, it appears like a ‘Didi Vs All’ fight. All ‘M’s – Money, Muscle and Media are being used against ‘Mamata Didi. Hence, Shivsena has decided not to contest West Bengal polls and stand in solidarity with her. We wish Mamata Didi a ‘roaring’ success, ‘cos we believe She is the real Bengal Tigress !!,” Raut posted a picture containing the text on Twitter.

    West Bengal is likely to witness a triangular contest this time with TMC, Congress-Left alliance and the BJP in the fray.

    Elections for the 294 Assembly seats in West Bengal will begin on March 27. The state is set to witness eight-phase Assembly polls this year.  

  • Maharashtra minister’s resignation: Sena’s Sanjay Raut downplays Opposition role

    By PTI
    AURANGABAD: The resignation of Maharashtra minister Sanjay Rathod on Sunday following his name being linked to the death of a woman came about from “hearing the people’s voice” and on “moral grounds” and not due to pressure from opposition parties, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said on Sunday.

    Rathod, who holds the forest portfolio, was facing allegations of complicity in the death of Puja Chavan (23), a resident of Beed district, who was found dead in Pune on February 8, apparently after falling off from the building in which she lived.

    Mocking the BJP, which has been vocal about the need for Rathod to resign or be sacked, Raut asked how many ministers resigned in BJP-ruled states when confronted with such cases.

    “We heard the people’s voice in the Sanjay Rathod case because the name of the minister is being connected to the case. If we see the issue politically, there was no need for a resignation as the investigation is still on,” he said.

    Raut said Rathod’s resignation was not a win for opposition parties as the Sena does not come under pressure in such matters, adding that it was offered on “moral grounds”.

    He also criticized BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis for casting aspersions on the police in the Rathod case and said such statements do not suit a former chief minister as it brings down the morale of the force.

  • Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut questions silence over LS MP Mohan Delkar’s death

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday asked why the people, who had raised a hue and cry in the case of actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s demise, were silent over the “mysterious” death of Dadra and Nagar Haveli’s Lok Sabha member Mohan Delkar.

    Delkar, the 58-year-old independent MP from the Union Territory, was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his hotel room in south Mumbai on February 22.

    A suicide note in Gujarati was also found at the spot, according to police.

    In his weekly column “Rokhthok” in the Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, Raut said an actor’s suicide and demolition of unauthorised construction by an actress created sensationalism.

    But, how could there be silence over the “mysterious” death of the seven-term Lok Sabha member, he wondered.

    Delkar, who has houses in Delhi and Gujarat, must have thought that the Mumbai police will act on his suicide note and arrest the guilty, the Rajya Sabha member said.

  • Shiv Sena slams Nirmala Sitharaman’s ‘dharm-sankat’ remark on fuel prices

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena on Friday targeted Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for referring to the issue of high fuel prices as “dharm-sankat”, and said she had no right to continue in her post if she could not resolve it.

    Sena MP Sanjay Raut alleged that the minister was trying to run away from the issue. “You have got votes in the name of ‘dharm’ (religion). If reducing prices of petrol and diesel is `dharm-sankat’ (moral dilemma), don’t play religious politics,” he said, speaking to reporters.

    Raut said that the government’s primary responsibility is to protect people from inflation, and it should not adopt a trader’s approach of looking at profit and loss while taking decisions. “(Then prime minister) Manmohan Singh faced such a situation (high fuel prices) during the UPA rule but he fought it and you are running away,” the Sena leader said.

    The Rajya Sabha member said that if high petrol and diesel prices was `dharm-sankat’, Sitharaman should not continue in her post. He also claimed that in neighbouring Sri Lanka and Nepal, prices of petrol and diesel were 40 percent less.

    At an event in Ahmedabad on Thursday, when asked if Centre was mulling reduction in the cess or other taxes on fuel to give respite to consumers, Sitharaman said the question had put her in “dharm-sankat”. “No hiding of the fact that the Centre gets revenue from it. Same is the case with states. I agree that there should be less burden on the consumers. For that, both the Centre and states should talk with each other (for reducing central as well as state taxes on fuel),” she said during an interaction with the students of the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIMA).

  • Sanjay Raut blames Opposition as COVID-19 cases spike in Maharashtra

    By PTI
    PUNE: Amid a spurt in coronavirus cases in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Saturday claimed that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray was not in favour of opening up all public places.

    It was the opposition which was demanding that restrictions be removed, he said, speaking to reporters here.

    The chief minister had taken an overview of the situation and he was not willing to remove restrictions on certain public places in view of the pandemic, Raut said.

    READ| Upsurge in COVID-19 cases in Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab, Chhattisgarh and MP: Govt

    “But the government reopened some places due to the demand of opposition parties,” he said, in apparent reference to the BJP’s agitation last year seeking reopening of religious places in the state.

    Maharashtra recorded more than 6,000 new coronavirus infections for the first time in three months on Friday.

    Asked about the allegations faced by Shiv Sena minister Sanjay Rathod in connection with a 23-year-old woman’s suicide in Pune, he said probe was going on, and the chief minister would take appropriate decision about Rathod.

  • Sanjay Raut questions Centre over rise in fuel prices

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut on Thursday hit out at the Central government over the rise in petrol prices and asked: “Where is the money going?”

    “Where is the money going? Is it going to West Bengal? This is wrong, If it is so,” Raut said while speaking to ANI.

    Elections for 294 Assembly seats in West Bengal are likely to take place in April-May this year.

    The Shiv Sena leader also said that he had read the government’s statement that the Centre is not responsible for the rising prices of petrol and diesel but the previous government.

    “You are at Centre for 7 years with full majority, but whenever any question rises including inflation, corruption, national security matters or China enters to the Indian territories, the answer of this government remains always same,” he said.

    Attacking the Centre, the Shiv Sena leader said that the government should reveal to the public that international prices of petrol and diesel are low. “If we ask questions, will we become traitors?” he asked.

    Prices of LPG, petrol and diesel have been repeatedly hiked in the country.