Sanjay Raut claims ED pressurised him to overthrow MVA govt

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut made several sensational claims at a press conference in New Delhi on Wednesday (February 9), alleging that political leaders in Maharashtra—including Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray as well as NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s family and acquaintances—were being systematically targeted, defamed, and harassed by officials from the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Raut reminded “certain people” that “Shiv Sena is the grandfather of Mumbai,” and in a veiled attack at BJP leader and leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis, repeated what he (Raut) had said in the past, “if we break into your house, you will not be able to go to Nagpur.”

Raut’s fiery press conference comes on the back of a letter that he wrote to vice-president M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday night, stating that the ED—at the behest of the BJP government at the Centre—had approached him and pressurised him to help in overthrowing the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra, which is a tripartite coalition of the Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress.

The letter, which was also copied to several other prominent Opposition leaders such as Rahul Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, Mallikarjun Kharge, and Derek O Brien, stated: “About a month ago, I was approached by certain people and told to assist them in toppling the state government in Maharashtra. They wanted me to be instrumental in such an endeavor so that the state could be forced into a mid-term election. I refused to be a party to any such clandestine agenda which was being pursued upon…I was warned that my refusal could lead to my paying a heavy price. I was even told that my fate could be like that of a former union railway minister who spent many years behind bars.”

State environment minister and Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray did not say much but termed Raut’s letter as being “eloquent”, when asked about the matter at an event in Mumbai on Wednesday.

Also read: In Maharashtra, BJP tries to play down Sena’s role in Hindutva history

Raut’s allegations are expected to heat up the political atmosphere in the state ahead of the forthcoming budget session in Maharashtra. Speaking to reporters in Delhi on Wednesday, he accused central agencies, such as the ED, of becoming a part of the BJP’s criminal syndicate, and following directions from certain people.

“Who are the facilitators who are going to the ED office and giving them information and orders?” he said while imploring Mumbai police to investigate the ED officials who were “bullying” and “illegally detaining” people in Maharashtra. “I can understand their (BJP) pain since the (MVA) government came to power in Maharashtra,” he said. “But they should fight a political battle. Instead, they are running a criminal syndicate.”

He further said Tuesday’s letter was written as a “duty” and it was “not even a trailer.” He warned: “The trailer is yet to come. The letter is for information only, about how the officials of the ED run their syndicate. Once I am back in Mumbai, I will provide evidence about how the ED runs their criminal syndicate and how they have their own financial scams like money laundering as well as how they indulge in blackmail and intimidation tactics…”

Taking another veiled jibe at Fadnavis, he said: “Every day some drunkard wakes up and starts blabbering…and then the ED goes and takes action against the people named by him.”

Lastly, the executive editor of Saamana also claimed that the decorators, florists, and other professionals who had provided services for his daughter’s wedding last November, had been roped in for questioning by the ED and other investigative agencies, and were being “threatened and intimidated at gunpoint” by the ED officials to provide false confessions that they had received ₹50 lakh in cash from him (Raut) at the time of the marriage.

“I perceive these attempts by the Enforcement Directorate and other agencies as a direct attack on my right to speak freely in the House and outside the House,” he wrote in his letter to vice president Naidu. “I perceive it to be an attack on our democracy. I perceive the recent attacks on people known and unknown to me have been occasioned due to my refusal to partake in conspiring to topple the state government in Maharashtra.”

Reacting to Raut’s letter, BJP MLA and spokesperson Ram Kadam tweeted: “It’s clearly evident that some leaders of MVA are scared. If they have not done any financial scam, then why are they scared?”