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‘Tender floated for murder?’: Sanjay Raut to Fadnavis over alleged death threat to Sena (UBT) leader
A fresh war of words has erupted between the Uddhav Thackeray camp and the Shinde-Fadnavis government after unrest in Kolhapur.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday hit out at Maharashtra home minister Devendra Fadnavis after a party spokesperson allegedly received a death threat on his phone. Raut alleged that Fadnavis is sitting as a mute spectator while a Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson is “getting death threats on air.”
Sena (UBT) spokesperson Anand Dubey was allegedly threatened by a leader of Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena.
“What is happening in Maharashtra? What kind of condition has this government created?” Raut wrote on Twitter in Hindi.
“Has the government given an order to kill its political opponents? Has a tender been floated for the murder as well? Answer Fadnavis,” the Rajya Sabha member added.
Dubey said he first got the call from Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Mashilkar at 7.45pm but couldn't pick it up since he was participating in a debate on a news channel, reported India TV.
Dubey called Mashilkar back after the debate when the latter allegedly said, “Do you consider yourself a descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji? You are talking too much on TV. Stay within your limits else you will be shot.”
Dubey said he immediately informed Sanjay Raut about the threatening phone call and filed a complaint at Samata Nagar police station in Mumbai. After the complaint, the police started tracing the number from which the threatening call was received, according to India TV.
Mashilkar was with Uddhav Thackeray before the vertical split of Shiv Sena.
On Wednesday, Dubey appeared on several news channels for debate on the unrest in Maharashtra's Kolhapur following a rally by right-wing Hindu organisations protesting some social media posts allegedly glorifying Aurangzeb and Tipu Sultan. Certain miscreants began pelting stones at homes and business establishments owned by the Muslim community and attacking their vehicles. The police had to use lathicharge to disperse the restive crowd.
Prohibitory orders banning the assembly of five or more persons have been issued till June 19 to maintain law and order in the district.
While he appealed for the maintenance of peace, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is also the state home minister, defended the aggression of the Hindutva outfits. “There is bound to be a reaction if Aurangzeb is glorified,” he said. “We will not tolerate it. This is Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s Maharashtra.”
