Uddhav meets Sanjay Raut’s family, takes shots at BJP

Thackeray visited Raut’s residence in suburban Bhandup and spent 30 minutes meeting his 84-year-old mother Savita, wife Varsha, daughters Purvashi and Vidisha, and brother and party legislator from Vikhroli, Sunil.

Shiv Sena president and former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray visited Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut’s residence on Monday in a strident expression of his support for his party spokesperson, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Sunday in an alleged money laundering case linked to the redevelopment of Patra Chawl in Mumbai.

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray greets Savita Rajaram Raut, mother of party leader Sanjay Raut, in Mumbai on Monday. (ANI)

Thackeray visited Raut’s residence in suburban Bhandup and spent 30 minutes meeting his 84-year-old mother Savita, wife Varsha, daughters Purvashi and Vidisha, and brother and party legislator from Vikhroli, Sunil.

At a press conference later, Thackeray said Raut was “the real Shiv Sainik of Balasaheb” and that he was “proud” of him.

“I am proud of Sanjay. He said he would die but not surrender. He is the real Shiv Sainik of Balasaheb (the late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray),” the former chief minister said, adding: “A Shiv Sainik is fearless and speaks out against what he does not approve of.”

Raut was arrested on the intervening night of July 31-August 1 following an ED raid at his residence on Sunday. The agency on Monday told the special PMLA court that Raut and his family members were direct beneficiaries of ₹1.06 crore of the ₹112 crore received by Pravin Raut, from HDIL in 2010-11. The court sent the Sena leader to ED custody till August 4.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president J P Nadda’s comments that family-run parties will perish clearly showed that the ruling party at the Centre was trying to finish off regional parties, Thackeray told reporters. The BJP returned to power in the state last month after allying with Sena rebel leader Eknath Shinde.

“This (Nadda’s statement) is very dangerous and serious. His comments indicate taking the country towards dictatorship and autocracy. The politics today is distressing,” he said.

Thackeray also referred to Raut as his “old friend” and said the MP’s arrest showed that he did not succumb to the BJP which was allegedly using brute force to crush its opponents.

“Today, you have the power, and if you are going to use it to crush others, remember that times change.”

“The politics that is happening today is very cruel and repulsive,” Thackeray said, adding that BJP’s “vendetta” politics aimed to create “slaves” out of leaders.

Thackeray was accompanied by his close aide and party secretary Milind Narvekar, Lok Sabha MP Arvind Sawant and MLA Ravindra Waikar during his visit to Raut’s residence.

“People need to take note of where these people are taking India,” he said.

“Hitler-type politics has been unleased. Those who don’t surrender are being framed. If you want to finish other parties, go before the people. You want to crush the regional identities,” he added.

The BJP hit back, saying the ED action against Raut cannot be termed vindictive politics.

“It’s an action against a person who was responsible for destroying the dream of 672 Marathi families living in Patra chawl. It’s a scam of over ₹1 crore... Raut was deeply involved in illegal transactions. Money was transferred to Raut and his wife’s account. Uddhav Thackeray should speak on Raut’s involvement in the case,” BJP leader and former minister Ashish Shelar said.

“Naddaji did speak about dynasty politics and parties run by families. It has been our party ‘s stand for years as it hurts the interest of the general party workers. We are not against the regional parties or do not want to finish them,” state BJP vice president Madhav Bhandari said.