"As for the raids on Sanjay Raut, only he can authoritatively explain why the ED is raiding him repeatedly...," Ajit Pawar told reporters in Beed. (File photo)Even as the Congress and the NCP extended support to Shiv Sena MP and chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut whose Mumbai residence was raided by officers of the Enforcement Directorate on Sunday, NCP’s Ajit Pawar – who is the Opposition leader – appeared to distance himself from the raid, while others slammed the move as the BJP’s tactics against rivals.
“Income Tax, ED, CBI have every right to investigate anyone, including you and me… As for the raids on Sanjay Raut, only he can authoritatively explain why the ED is raiding him repeatedly…,” Ajit Pawar told reporters in Beed where he was inspecting the damage caused by heavy rain Sunday.
Reacting to the raid, NCP state spokesperson Mahesh Tapase said, “The ED raids are part of the BJP’s strategy to pressurise and humiliate MVA (Maha Vikas Aghadi) leaders in the state by raking up false charges. Similarly, at the national level too, they have targetted Congress leaders like Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi who were questioned for hours. The MVA in the state is united and we are fully behind Sanjay Raut.”
Raut was raided by the central agency in connection with the redevelopment of Patra Chawl in Mumbai after he missed the summons issued to him on July 20 and 27.
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Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe, meanwhile, sought to know why the ED did not file a chargesheet if they have the “so-called documents”. “The ED, CBI and Income Tax are no longer functioning as investigating agencies. They have become a political tool to harass and humiliate Opposition leaders. Today’s ED raids are part of this BJP strategy to target its rivals. I don’t understand when they (ED) have so-called documents, why don’t they file a chargesheet instead of repeatedly summoning an individual in the name of conducting an inquiry. The BJP’s main aim is to send out the message that either those who are being raided should join their party or go to jail.”
Ramdas Kadam, who belongs to the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena, said, “I was telling Sanjay Raut to keep his mouth shut, but he would not listen. If he has not done anything wrong, then why should he be afraid of the Enforcement Directorate…? He has all the time to hold press conferences, but refuses to respect the ED summons. Raut is the one who was responsible for the Shiv Sena joining hands with the Congress-NCP which hit our party hard.”
MP Arvind Sawant, who belongs to the Uddhav Thackeray camp of the Sena, said, “The BJP is behind this raid. It has done so to deflect attention from the controversy that has erupted over the remarks of Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari. There is widespread anger over his remarks and to divert public attention, raids have been conducted on Sanjay Raut.”
“Raut had conveyed to the ED that he would be available for questioning at a later date as the Parliament session was underway. Earlier, whenever he was summoned, he had made himself available to investigators,” Sawant said.
Raut, however, termed the raids an attempt to force him to quit the Shiv Sena. Taunting the Eknath Shinde faction, he tweeted, “I will die but never quit the Shiv Sena. I will not surrender…I will continue to fight for the Shiv Sena. I have done nothing wrong…”
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