Sanjay Raut launches no-holds-barred attack on BJP, says central agencies being misused by Modi govt

Raut also said that for the last one year BJP leaders were persistently pursuing him to topple the Maha Vikas Aghadi government

Rattled by the Enforcement Directorate notice against his wife, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut launched a no-holds-barred attack, saying that he has a list of 120 leaders of the BJP which are fit cases for investigation charges of money laundering.

Raut, a close aide of Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, said that for the last one year he was being contacted by BJP leaders pursuing him to topple the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.

Read | PMC Bank money laundering case: ED summons Sanjay Raut's wife for questioning on Dec 29

“Agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation, Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax are being blatantly misused by the BJP government,” he said, however, refusing to name the BJP leaders.

When asked whether it was leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis, he replied in negative. “Let us not get into names….I will reveal when the time comes,” he said.

“Some senior leaders are meeting me continuously attempting to convince me not to continue supporting the MVA as they have made all preparations to bring it down. They even showed me a list of 22 NCP and Shiv Sena MLAs to prove their point,” said Raut, a Rajya Sabha member and Shiv Sena chief spokesperson.

Also Read | Anybody speaking against BJP faces ED or CBI: Anil Deshmukh

According to him, his wife, Varsha Raut has taken a loan of Rs 50 lakh 12 years ago to purchase a house. “We are from a middle-class family, my wife is a teacher and she had taken a loan from a friend 12 years ago…and we are getting notice now,” he said, adding that the notice has been replied to twice.

“When the ED did not mention that the correspondence was for the PMC Bank scam case and HDIL , how is it that the BJP leaders are saying this," he wanted to know, alleging that it has come to notice that the BJP leaders are visiting the ED office regularly and getting documents.

“Don’t take ‘panga’ with me… I am the late Balasaheb Thackeray’s Shiv Sainik… I will expose you all… I have a list of 120 BJP leaders (scams) which the ED can investigate for five years… They will have to take flights like Nirav Modi or Vijay Mallya to foreign countries,” Raut warned.