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Tag: Sanjay Raut

  • Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut takes dig at PM Narendra Modi, says ‘we all are andolan jeevi’

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Monday took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the latters use of the term “andolan jeevi”, or those who survive on protests, during his address in the Rajya Sabha and sought to associate himself with the expression.

    The Rajya Sabha MP shared a photograph of him and farmers leader Rakesh Tikait on Twitter and said in Hindi on the micro-blogging site, Say with pride…we are all andolan jeevi…jai jawan, jai kisaan.

    The photograph was taken when Raut met Tikait at the Ghazipur protest site outside Delhi on February 2 to express solidarity with farmers agitating against the Centre’s new agri-marketing laws.

    Earlier in the day, Modi hit out at those behind the protests, saying a new crop of agitators has emerged in India who cannot live without agitation and the country should be beware of them.

    “There is a new crop of ‘andolan jeevi’. They live for protests. They look for ways to start a new movement.

    “The country needs to be aware of these andolan jeevi,” the PM said in the Upper House of Parliament while replying to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address.

  • Sanjay Raut responds to Amit Shah’s accusation, says ‘closed room’ benefited BJP as well

    By ANI
    MUMBAI: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Monday responded to Union Minister Amit Shah’s attack on Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray about promises made in a ‘closed room’, saying that the same closed room has benefited the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well.

    “In the same ‘closed room’ that Amit Shah is talking about, Balasaheb ji gave his blessings to the BJP and many senior leaders for Hindutva… PM Modi and Amit Shah have benefitted. Everyone knows this,” Raut told ANI.

    “Why should we (Shiv Sena) lie about anything? For power? Shiv Sena was not born for power,” he said, adding that for them, it was a temple, not a ‘closed room’.

    This comes a day after Amit Shah’s address in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district, where he had said, “Some people here say that we made promises in a closed room. It’s not true. Let’s assume the promise was made. All the candidates of Shiv Sena campaigned with 2.5 times bigger image of Modi Ji on banners and you asked for votes in his name.”

    Raut further said the Home Minister should listen to Devendra Fadnavis’ previous statements, where he made similar remarks in a press meet.

    “If we’re talking about ‘closed rooms’, the Home Minister should listen to the press conference that Devendra Fadnavis addressed in Hotel Blue Sea once again. He clearly said that in talks that took place in a ‘closed room’, Amit Shah and Uddhav ji were there. After that, it was decided that power-sharing and seat-sharing would be 50-50,” Raut added.

    The Thackeray-led Shiv Sena parted ways with the BJP after the Assembly polls in 2019 over the issue of sharing the chief ministerial post in the state, and later forged an alliance with the NCP and Congress to come to power. 

  • Opposition parties in Rajya Sabha demand repeal of farm laws

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Various opposition parties like the Shiv Sena, SAD, NCP, Samajwadi Party and Left parties on Friday demanded in Rajya Sabha that the three new farm laws be repealed and fresh ones brought after wider consultations.

    Participating in the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address, the members of opposition parties attacked the government for dubbing the farmers protesting against the farm laws as “anti-nationals” and for “defaming” their agitation.

    Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut alleged that anyone speaking the truth is dubbed as a “traitor” or “anti-national” and that cases of sedition have been slapped against those criticising the government.

    Participating in the debate, he said farmers fighting for their rights have been branded as anti-nationals or Khalistanis.

    He said the farmers, who were known as ‘warriors’ when they fought the Mughals and the British, are now dubbed as anti-nationals when they are fighting for their rights on Delhi’s borders.

    Raut said farmers from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, who are sitting on the borders of Delhi, are fighting for the peasants from across the country and demanded that their voice be heard and the farm laws be repealed.

    “We heard minister Dharmendra Pradhan asking us to listen to the truth. For the last six years, we have been listening to the truth, even the untruth dubbed as truth.

    The atmosphere in the country today is such that anyone writing the truth is dubbed as traitor and anti-national,” he alleged.

    “When the farmers are uniting and fighting for their rights, you see anti-national acts.

    They are not anti-nationals or ‘khalistanis’ “Till the time this movement is alive, the nation will remain alive and this ‘andolan’,” he said.

    “If you would have built such barricades at the international borders, as those put up at Delhi borders, China would not have dared to come into Indian territory,” the Sena member said.

    Praful Patel (NCP) said the Centre and states have together fought the COVID-19 pandemic along with medical professionals and the mortality rate in the country was low as compared to other countries.

    He said when the government is talking of working for the welfare of farmers, why did it not send the farm laws to the Select Committee for wider consultations to avoid the situation that has arisen now.

    “On our demand, had the government sent the bills to a Select Committee for wider consultations, the scenes witnessed today around Delhi would not have been witnessed.

    What was the hurry to bring these laws,” he asked.

    Patel sought to clarify that former Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar’s letter of 2007 is being circulated to misrepresent the facts.

    “The 2007 letter he wrote to chief ministers was to seek their comments on the amendment to farm laws.

    The Bill was never brought in Parliament. The government, however, is unnecessarily raising the issue to misrepresent facts,” he said.

    The NCP leader said if the government is ready to put these laws in abeyance for 1.5 years, why does it not repeal them and bring new ones after proper consultations.

    BSP member Satish Chandra Misra demanded that the government should repeal the three new farm laws and also provide legal guarantee of the minimum support price (MSP) on all crops, alleging that the government’s intention are not clear.

    Misra slammed the government for trying to stop farmers’ protest and alleged that multi-layered barricades, barbed wires and iron nails studded on roads have been put up on Delhi-borders.

    He said water and electricity supplies have been cut and access to toilets have also been stopped.

    “This is a human rights violation.”

    “I am not able to understand when you (the government) are ready to suspend the laws for 1.5 years, what is stopping you to withdraw these Acts,” he said, urging the government to shed its ego and accept the farmers’ demand.

    SAD leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa said the prime minister should intervene and listen to the farmers’ demands.

    The Akali Dal member said the government should accept the farmers’ demand to repeal the three laws.

    He said all Opposition parties are also demanding the same.

    Dhindsa said he had written to the prime minister when Ordinances were brought but did not get any reply.

    He said agriculture is a state-subject and the Centre is weakening the federal system by bringing these farm laws.

    Highlighting the sacrifice made by Sikhs during the country’s Independence struggle, Dhindsa rued that Sikhs are being described as terrorists and Khalistanis.

    Dhindsa also said there should be a scientific method to fix the MSP.

    Congress leader Pratap Singh Bajwa demanded setting up a committee headed by a Supreme Court judge to conduct an impartial probe within two months into the incidents on January 26 that led to violence.

    He compared the barricades set up at the farmers’ protest site at Ghazipur with the Berlin Wall and concentration camps, and took a strong objection to farmers being branded as anti-national and Khalistanis.

    IUML member Abdul Wahab demanded restoration of MPLADs fund.

    Earlier, CPI member Binoy Viswam hit out at the government for terming the economic crisis as an act of God, and said the policies of the government are squarely responsible for the situation and not the almighty.

  • Sanjay Raut meets farmer leader Rakesh Tikait at Ghazipur protest site

    By PTI
    GHAZIABAD: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Tuesday reached the farmers’ protest site at Ghazipur on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border where he met Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait.

    The Maharashtra leader arrived at Ghazipur when security has been further tightened at the farmers’ protest site.

    Raut, one of the handful people wearing a face mask, met Tikait and other protestors off the stage after reaching here around 1 pm.

    “The way vandalism unfolded here after January 26 and an attempt made to suppress the movement and Tikait, we felt it is our responsibility to stand by the farmers’ and extend support of the whole of Maharashtra, Shiv Sena and Uddhav Thackeray saahab,” Raut told reporters.

    Tikait said, “The farmers’ protest is apolitical and no politician has been given the mic or space on the stage.

    ” A major Hindutva ally of the BJP-led NDA till 2019, Shiv Sena was one of the 19 opposition parties which boycotted the President’s address ahead of the Budget Session on January 29 and extended support to the farmers’ agitation.

    Previously leaders of Shiromani Akali Dal, Aam Aadmi Party, Congress, Rashtriya Lok Dal, Samajwadi Party, among others, visited Ghazipur, which has become the camping ground for BKU-led protestors for over two months now.

    Of late, thousands have converged in support of the ongoing stir against the contentious new farm laws.

    Initially, farmer unions had maintained that their protests were apolitical but have lately welcomed politicians openly.

    Rakesh Tikait on January 31 had said the Sanyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) had not allowed political parties in the movement against new central farm laws but took political support “only after the democracy was mocked” at protest sites.

    Meanwhile, concertina wires spread further around the UP Gate (Ghazipur border) on Tuesday, while multi-layered barricading of iron and concrete structures along with nails studded on roads made sure no protestor movement towards Delhi.

    The internet also remained suspended at the protest site.

    Thousands of farmers have been protesting at the Delhi borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, demanding a rollback of the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

    The protesting farmers have expressed the apprehension that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price (MSP) system, leaving them at the “mercy” of big corporations.

    However, the government has maintained that the new laws will bring better opportunities to farmers and introduce new technologies in agriculture.

  • Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut to meet protesting farmers at Ghazipur border

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Tuesday said he will visit farmers who are protesting at the Ghazipur border near Delhi, as per the instruction of Maharashtra Chief Minister and party head Uddhav Thackeray.

    The Shiv Sena has been supporting the farmers who are agitating at Delhi’s border points for over two months against the Centre’s three new farm laws.

    “The Maha Vikas Aghadi government took decisions in the interest of farmers. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray stood with farmers when they were in pain. Will visit the farmers protesting at Ghazipur border on his instruction,” Raut tweeted, adding he will reach there at 1 pm.

    Farmers’ protest sites at Delhi’s borders turned into fortresses Monday as police beefed up security and strengthened barricades.

    Workers under the watch of police personnel hooked iron rods between two rows of cement barriers on a flank of the main highway at the Singhu border to further restrict the movement of protesters.

    Another portion of the highway at the Delhi-Haryana border is practically blocked now as a makeshift cement wall has come up there.

    At Ghazipur on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border, there are multi-layer barricades to stop the movement of vehicles.

    Barbed wire has also been put up to keep off people on foot.

    Protesters have been pouring in as the Bharatiya Kisan Union members and its leader Rakesh Tikait have stayed pitched at Ghazipur’s UP Gate, occupying a stretch of the Delhi-Meerut highway since November last year.

  • Karnataka Deputy CM should understand history: Sena’s Sanjay Raut on his Mumbai remarks 

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday criticised Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi over his remarks that Mumbai should be made part of his state.

    Raut said that Savadi should understand the history, and claimed that the Kannada-speaking people residing in Maharashtra want the Marathi-dominated areas in their home state to be included in Maharashtra.

    Savadi had on Wednesday said that until Mumbai was made part of Karnataka, the central government should declare it as a union territory.

    READ| Karnataka CM, Opposition slam Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray’s comments on border dispute

    Talking to reporters, Raut said there was no need to give importance to the remarks made by Savadi.

    “People can talk, it doesn’t affect us. Savadi should understand the history. The boundary dispute with Karnataka is to protect Marathi language and culture,” the Shiv Sena MP said.

    “Savadi should come to Mumbai and Maharashtra and ask the Kannada-speaking people, who will tell him that Belgaum and other Marathi-dominated areas in his state should be merged with Maharashtra,” Raut claimed.

    The Maharashtra government provides grant to Kannada schools, libraries and cultural organisations in the state, he said.

    “Does this happen in Belgaum?” he asked.

    He said Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will implement the state’s development agenda only.

    Maharashtra claims certain areas, including Belagavi, Karwar and Nippani which are part of Karnataka, contending the majority of population in these areas is Marathi-speaking.

    On its part, as an assertion that Belagavi is an integral part of the state, Karnataka has built the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, modeled on the Vidhana Soudha, the state secretariat in Bengaluru, where the legislature session is held once a year Maharashtra chief minister had on Wednesday said areas dominated by Marathi-speaking people on the state’s border with Karnataka should be declared as a Union Territory till the Supreme Court gives final verdict on the issue.

    Meanwhile, when asked about the violence in Delhi on the Republic Day during the farmers’ tractor rally, Raut said the police should investigate if those who entered the Red Fort were cultivators.

    “The government wants to crush the farmers’ agitation and split them. Those affiliated to the BJP entered the Red fort and created chaos,” he alleged.

  • Maharashtra should have got more Padma awards: Sanjay Raut

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Maharashtra makes a big contribution towards the country and the world in different sectors, but the state has received “only six” Padma awards this year, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said on Tuesday.

    Talking to reporters here, Raut said “at least 10 to 12 persons from Maharashtra” should have been honoured with the awards this year.

    The awards are given in three categories — Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.

    They are given for distinguished and exceptional achievements and service in different fields and disciplines such as art, literature and education, sports, medicine, social work, science and engineering, public affairs, civil service, trade and industry.

    The Union Home Ministry on Monday said President Ram Nath Kovind has approved conferment of 119 Padma awards — seven Padma Vibhushan, 10 Padma Bhushan and 102 Padma Shri.

    Rajnikant Shroff, Sindhutai Sapkal, Girish Prabhune, Namdeo Kamble, Parshuram Gangawane and Jaswantiben Popat are the award winners from Maharashtra this year.

    Shroff has been awarded the Padma Bhushan in the field of trade and industry.

    The other five are the Padma Shri award winners.

    “Six persons from Maharashtra have been named for the Padma awards. We are all surprised. Maharashtra is so big. It makes a big contribution towards the country and the world in different sectors,” said Raut, whose party is currently in power in the state along with the NCP and Congress.

    The COVID-19 vaccine, because of which Prime Minister Narendra Modi or the Centre “can hold their heads high” in the world, is manufactured in Maharashtra, he said, apparently referring to the ‘Covishield’ vaccine being manufactured at the Serum Institute of India in Pune.

    “Such a state has received only six Padma awards. We felt at least 10 to 12 persons from Maharashtra should have been honoured,” Raut said.

    Maharashtra will have to take note if “injustice” is meted to it in any way, the Rajya Sabha member said.

    Asked about the announcement of the Padma Vibhushan award for former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, Raut quipped that the honour may have been bestowed on Abe for giving bullet train to India “which Maharashtra has rejected”.

    During Abe’s regime, Japan had extended a soft loan for the ambitious Rs 1.

    10 lakh crore bullet train project, connecting Mumbai to Ahmedabad in Gujarat.

    Maharashtra Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant also hit out at the Centre over the issue.

    In a statement, Sawant said the state government had recommended 99 names from different fields to the Centre for the Padma awards.

    “But only one of those (Sapkal) has been considered by the Centre.

    This is very unfortunate.

    Are only those who are close to the RSS eligible for the awards?” Sawant wondered.

    The Maharashtra government had recommended the Padma Bhushan award for Sapkal, but she has been named for the Padma Shri award, Sawant said.

     

  • Nobody should feel pain while chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’: Sanjay Raut

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Days after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee declined to speak at an event where “Jai Shri Ram” slogans were raised, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said nobody should feel pain while chanting the slogan.

    Talking to reporters here on Monday, Raut said he is sure Mamata Banerjee also has faith in Lord Ram.

    Banerjee on Saturday declined to speak at an official programme to celebrate Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s 125th birth anniversary in Kolkata after “Jai Shri Ram” slogans were raised from the audience in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

    She said such “insult” was unacceptable.

    Asked about the BJP accusing Banerjee of feeling pained when chanting the slogan, Raut said, “Nobody should feel pained to say ‘Jai Shri Ram’ in the country.”

    “Nobody’s secularism will be under threat by saying Jai Shri Ram. We think Lord Ram is the pride of the country and support,” he said.

    “Jai Shri Ram is not any political word. It is a matter of our faith, and I am sure that Mamata Didi also has faith in Lord Ram,” the Rajya Sabha member said.

    An editorial in Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ also said Banerjee should not have got upset when “Jai Shri Ram” slogans were raised by some people during the programme.

    “Rather, tables would have turned on them (those who raised slogans) had she mixed her voice among theirs. But everyone is catering to their own vote banks,” it said.

    The BJP has identified Banerjee’s “weak point” and it will keep playing up such sensitive issues until the Assembly elections (in West Bengal) are over, it said.

    The editorial also launched a veiled attack on the BJP, accusing it of poaching TMC leaders in West Bengal to defeat the Mamata Banerjee-led party in the forthcoming polls in that state.

    It said the leadership of West Bengal, Punjab and Maharashtra were at the forefront of the country’s freedom struggle.

    The three states are fighting for their self-pride at present also and the Centre is against them, it claimed.

    Farmers from Punjab, who are agitating against the Centre’s new farm laws near Delhi border, are allegedly being trampled, it said.

    Maharashtra is being targeted in a “pre-decided” manner, the Marathi daily alleged, apparently referring to notices by central agencies to some of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders.

    The BJP poached Congress and NCP leaders ahead of the 2014 Maharashtra Assembly polls and gave them candidature, it alleged and said most of such candidates had got elected.

    “What happened in Maharashtra is (now) happening in West Bengal. (BJP) doesn’t have anything of its own. It creates its legion poaching with whom it is going to fight. It happened in Bihar. Now, struggle is on to defeat the TMC by poaching TMC (leaders),” the Shiv Sena charged.

    Notably, West Bengal forest minister Rajib Banerjee quit the Mamata Banerjee cabinet recently, joining the growing list of dissenters who have put the ruling camp in a tight spot ahead of the Assembly elections.

    The editorial said the BJP winning 18 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal is a matter of concern for Mamata Banerjee.

    “But this Bengal tigress (Mamata Banerjee) is the one who fights on the streets and will keep fighting,” it added.

  • Shiv Sena to contest West Bengal elections, says party as Uddhav gives nod

    Express News Service
    MUMBAI: Shiv Sena has decided to contest the upcoming West Bengal state assembly election.

    Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut and party chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut informed that they had a meeting with Maharashtra chief minister and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday where this decision contesting West Bengal polls has been taken.

    After the meeting, Sanjay Raut immediately tweeted, “So, here is the much-awaited update. After discussions with Party Chief Shri Uddhav Thackeray, Shivsena has decided to contest the West Bengal Assembly Elections. We are reaching Kolkata soon…!! Jai Hind.”

    Sources in Shiv Sena said that Sanjay Raut will go to Kolkata and meet the cadre and decide how many seats and which one should be contested in the total number of 298 seats of West Bengal state assembly. On the other hand, the BJP is also trying hard to poach the Trinamool Congress Party lawmakers ahead of the polls.

    Interestingly, Shiv Sena is the alliance partner of the Congress and the NCP, but in West Bengal, it has decided to go solo rather than tying with any political front. Congress has decided to ally with the Left front.

    Sources in Sena said that the Sena leadership knew that they will not win any seats, but its main intension is to damage the BJP by eating the Hindu votes. “The BJP and the Shiv Sena share the same ideology and so Sena has calculations that if they contest that they will surely damage the prospect of the BJP in West Bengal. Besides, it has no shortage of resources now. Therefore, the Sena is likely to field the candidates where the BJP is strong. Besides, Sena has also planned to attract the disgruntled leaders and prospective candidates in BJP who will be denied the tickets in the polls,” the source added requesting anonymity.

    Sena will not fight to win the elections but to damage the chances of the BJP. “But the voters are shrewd and they will not vote to Sena. People generally vote to the main competitors but there are some sections that go with the local leaders. If the Sena gets such strong local leaders and in the multi contest, the victory margin is always thin so the candidates of Sena grabbing the small numbers of the vote can cost heavy to BJP. It is very difficult to predict everything now. But Sena will do everything to damage BJP and help incumbent chief minister Mamata Banerjee.”

  • Is using Sambhaji Maharaj’s name crime, asks Sanjay Raut on renaming row

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Days after the Congress objected to Maharashtra Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) mentioning Aurangabad as Sambhajinagar in a tweet, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Friday asked whether using the name of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj in government documents a crime.

    The Shiv Sena, which currently shares power with the Congress and the NCP in Maharashtra, has time and again demanded that Aurangabad in central part of the state be renamed as Sambhajinagar, after the elder son of warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji.

    However, Maharashtra minister and state Congress chief Balasaheb Thorat has been saying that his party would strongly oppose the move to rename Aurangabad.

    Two days back, the Maharashtra CMO, in one of the tweets about cabinet decisions, had mentioned the city as Sambhajinagar.

    However, Thorat had objected to it saying that the Directorate of Information and Publicity should not rename cities on its own and that it should remember that official work is a legal document.

    When asked about it, Raut told reporters in Nashik that a government functions in the name of chief minister.

    “Is using the name of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj and Shivaji Maharaj on government documents a crime? It is people’s sentiment and the government functions on the basis of people’s sentiments,” he said.

    Raut said Sambhajinagar was the name given to Aurangabad city by late Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray.

    “It will remain that way,” he said.

    To a question on Congress’s argument that the renaming issue was not part of the common minimum programme (CMP) of the three parties, Raut said the CMP is meant to ensure the welfare of the people.

    “The CMP does not say people’s wishes shouldn’t be accepted,” he said.

    Aurangabad, once the headquarters of the Dakkhan (Deccan) province in Mughal empire, derives its name from Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.

    Replying to questions on the upcoming local bodies elections, Raut said all the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies were trying to find a common ground to contest the local elections together.

    “We may succeed in some places to fight unitedly,” he said.

    The Sena leader also criticised the delay in approving the names of 12 candidates for their nomination to the state Legislative Council by Governor B S Koshyari from his quota.

    “Constitutional values should be upheld by those holding constitutional posts.

    The Constitution clearly mentions that it is mandatory to accept the recommendation regarding the names submitted by the cabinet,” he said.

    “Make it clear first whether you want to keep the issue pending till you topple the MVA dispensation and get a government of your choice,” he said.

    When asked whether he was referring to the governor or the BJP, Raut said, “It is up to you. I have said what I wanted to.”