Mumbai: A day after his release from jail, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Thursday reached NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s residence.
Speaking to reporters, Raut said he would call on Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in 2-4 days to discuss projects pertaining to public welfare. Significantly, he also hinted at meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home minister Amit Shah.
“I will meet Dy CM Devendra Fadnavis in 2-4 days to discuss work pertaining to public welfare. I will also visit Delhi and meet PM Modi and Union Home minister Amit Shah,” he said.
On the Congress’s ongoing ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, he said it is a movement to end bitterness in the country. “Bharat Jodo is a movement. It is a journey to end bitterness in this country. The BJP should also support the ‘Barat Jodo Yatra’,” he said.
The Rajya Sabha MP claimed that the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ was not against the BJP. “The yatra is aimed at bringing people from across the country together. The BJP should welcome this yatra,” he said.
The Sena leader, who owes allegiance to the Uddhav Thackeray faction and had been at daggers drawn with the rebel faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde when the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government plunged into a crisis and eventually fell, Raut on Thursday lauded the current Shinde Sena-BJP regime for ‘some good decisions taken’.
“A new government has been formed in Maharashtra and I welcome some of their good decisions. Deputy CM Devendra Fadanvis has taken some good decisions. However, one feels that the state is actually being run by Dy CM Fadnavis and not the CM,” the Sena MP said.
Earlier on Thursday, Raut reached the Thackeray’s private residence in Mumbai and called on former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.
Speaking to the media outside his residence after meeting Raut, Thackeray said there was no change in the body language of the Sena MP and he is as forthright and aggressive as before.
“We are really happy to have Sanjay back. He is not only a leader or an MP of the party but also my special friend. His return will boost our party,” Thackeray said.
Comparing Raut’s trademark aggressive body language with a canon, the former CM said a cannon will always remain a cannon. “Raut was silent for some time, but now he is back in and will roar again,” said Thackeray.
Raut was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on August 1 in connection with alleged financial irregularities in the redevelopment of the Patra Chawl at suburban Goregaon in Mumbai.
On June 28, he had been summoned by the ED in connection with the prevention of the money laundering case pertaining to the Rs 1,034-crore Patra Chawl land scam.
Raut was granted bail by a special court in Mumbai on Wednesday and his release came as a relief for the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance before the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.
On Raut’s release from jail, Thackeray said the order proves that the central government was misusing agencies against Opposition forces. “Itis very clear that the government agencies like ED were being used to break Opposition parties and its leaders,” he said, adding that the judiciary is the only hope of justice left in the country.
“Sanjay has shown us how to fight without compromising on one’s self-respect,” he added.
