Maha polls: ED, CBI strong pillars of BJP victories, says Raut

Extending support to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and taking a dig at its ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut

Extending support to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and taking a dig at its ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut in his weekly column in Sena mouthpiece Saamana said that investigating agencies such as Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) are the two strong pillars of the BJP’s victories in the elections.

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Raut, who spoke in favour of Pawar after he was named in the alleged Maharashtra State Cooperative (MSC) Bank scam, said Maharashtra is witnessing “vendetta” politics. He said naming Pawar in the case has galvanised the NCP when Maharashtra was facing an “uninteresting and one-sided election”. He said the action of the ED has resulted in a “sympathy wave” in the rural areas in favour of the NCP.

“Currently, Maharashtra is witnessing politics of vendetta which is useless. The two strong pillars of the BJP’s victories are the CBI and ED. Now, the Election Commission of India has entered this race,” Raut said in his column, referring to the income tax department’s ongoing probe against election commissioner Ashok Lavasa’s wife Novel Singhal Lavasa.

Raut called Pawar a “tall leader” from Maharashtra and stated that the allegations against him are “false” as he was neither a “director nor was he involved in the functioning of the bank”.

The Rajya Sabha MP met Pawar on Saturday at his Mumbai residence to show his support to the former union minister.

“Uddhav Thackeray halted the horses of the BJP in Maharashtra [after the 2014 polls]. The BJP was trying to reach the halfway mark; the Shiv Sena was ready to sit in the Opposition, just then the NCP announced its support. There was no need for the NCP to do this, but it was extended at the orders from New Delhi. Now, Sharad Pawar is saying that he won’t bow down to throne in Delhi,” the column reads.