Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut says notices served to his wife and others are the BJP's plan to make the MVA government collapse
Sanjay Raut also claimed he received threats over the Shiv Sena taking the MVA government forward. Pic/Ashish Raje
A day after his wife was served a notice by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said that he had a list of 120 BJP leaders who should also be probed for financial illegalities. Raut said his wife was innocent because she had taken a loan from her friend and the transaction was also mentioned in his election affidavit.
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Alleging a political vendetta by the BJP-led government, Raut said the ED has been asking his wife for information but the agency never specified the enquiries were about the PMC Bank and HDIL. "How did some BJP leaders know about PMC and HDIL? I know that some BJP leaders visit the ED office and procure documents. Should I say that the BJP is hand-in-glove with the ED?," he asked at a media conference held at Shiv Sena Bhavan on Monday.
"The ED is being used to hound our families. There will be a big problem for the BJP if I open my mouth. When I told him about the list of BJP leaders, my party president and CM Udddhav Thackeray asked me to not bring BJP leaders' families into it. This is a political battle and we will respond to the BJP in the same vein," he said.
Raut said he had evidence of the developer company HDIL donating at least Rs 20 crore to the BJP, and claimed to know that HDIL was partnering with a BJP MP to develop a port in Maharashtra. "Shouldn't it be probed? The ED woke up 10 years after my wife took a loan from her friend. The transaction has been recorded in my election affidavit. They can arrest me and my family," he added.
'Pulling down MVA'
Raut said the BJP leaders and some middlemen have been threatening him saying the Sena shouldn't take the MVA forward because the BJP would make the government collapse at any cost. "They showed me a list of 22 Sena and NCP MLAs who would be subjected to probes and made to resign. Pratap Sarnaik's name was among these MLAs. But I refused. After the BJP couldn't meet a November deadline to pull down the MVA government, the senior leaders are being hounded," said Raut.
BJP's state chief spokesperson Keshav Upadhye said Raut should stop playing the victim card. "Raut can move court against the ED if the notice is illegal. Instead of claiming a political conspiracy, Raut should file a satisfactory reply before the ED," he said.
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