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Maharashtra

Shiv Sena’s Raut alleges ED out to ‘fix’ him, asks VP to ‘rein in’ agency

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In an unprecedented move, Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party Leader and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut has knocked the doors of Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu, the Chairman of the upper house, with a plea to “rein in” the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and stop harassment of opposition political leaders.

Among the stunning points by Raut is how alleged cases are being on filed and probed on decades-old transactions, he was pressurised to help bring down the Maha Vikas Aghadi government to force a mid-term election, and threatened with jail term along with two other state Cabinet Ministers, if he refused to cooperate.

Shooting off a 4-page letter, he has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of systematically targetting its erstwhile ally Shiv Sena leaders or persons close to them like family, relatives, friends, acquaintences by letting loose Central agencies like the ED against them.

Raut contended that the BJP used the probe agencies not only for harassment/ intimidation of leaders of other political parties but also to topple democratically-elected governments.

“This is certainly not a healthy sign for any country where democracy prevails,” pointed out Raut, who has received full support from the Sena leaders, Nationalist Congress Party, and the Congress while the Aam Aadmi Party was left “amused”.

The development comes a year after independent Lok Sabha MP from Union Territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli Mohan Delkar had made similar complaints to the Centre and later committed suicide in a Mumbai hotel in February 2021. Later his widow Kala M. Delkar won the same seat in a bypoll late last year.

Raut cited the instance of January when some persons approached him to assist ousting the MVA government of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to force a mid-term Assembly poll in the state, and when he refused to join the clandestine efforts, was warned of a fate similar to RJD leader Lalu Prasad with many years in jail, and that two Cabinet Ministers and 2 other senior state leaders would also be sent behind bars.

He said that there were two small property deals he conducted 10 and 17 years ago, which were duly declared by him in the election affidavits, and now the ED and other agencies are “probing” those deals, threatening the property sellers and their families are being harassed and threatened to give false statements against Raut or face jail or property seizure.

Referring to his daughter’s wedding in November 2021, Raut said that some 28 of the decorators and vendors have been picked up illegally, taken to the ED office where they are intimated into giving statements that he (Raut) made Rs 5 million in cash payments, warned of detention or arrest.

“In fact, some of the ED and other agencies personnel have even confessed to the very people they are summoning that they have been asked by their bosses to ‘fix’ me,” Raut said, adding how the Central agencies are reduced to puppets of their political masters.

Senior MVA leaders like Minister Aditya Thackeray, Kishore Tiwari, MP Priyanka Chaturvedi (Shiv Sena), NCP’s Nawab Malik and Congress’ Chief Spokesperson Atul Londhe came out in full support of Raut.

BJP’s Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis, however,charged Raut of playing the “victim card” and said that tigers cannot be scared of wolves.

“Raut is an editor and know how to make headlines or earn mileage from them… In (PM Narendra) Modi’s government no one can victimise anyone and hence Raut is playing a victim card,” said Fadnavis.

Opposition AAP leader Preeti Sharma-Menon said she was “amused” by Raut’s allegations of “misuse/abuse of power” by Central law enforcement agencies, and the “Shiv Sena is no paragon of virtue”.

She also slammed the BJP for “vendetta driver witchhunt of Opposition leaders” through systematic misuse of central agencies like the ED, the NCB, and the CBI by subverting the criminal justice system and grossly abusing the power vested in them.

Harking to similar tactics of BJP in Delhi – where AAP is in power, she said the BJP’s “diabolic plans” came to nought and these agencies were also pulled up by the courts.

“The Sena should learn from AAP and welcome scrutiny. It must walk the talk if it has nothing to hide and emerge unscathed. Or, maybe the Sena does have skeletons, nay, an entire graveyard in its closet for such was its association with the BJP, whom it divorced only recently (2019),” said Sharma-Menon.

Raut has also warned that he would soon come up with an “expose” on the ED, while Malik said the MVA would unitedly vanquish the BJP at the Centre.

For special effects, Raut closed his letter with the famed poem penned by the legendary anti-Nazi German pastor Martin Niemoller: “First they came for the Communists, and I did not speak out because I was not a communist; Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist; Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew; Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me.”

Maharashtra

Abu Asim Azmi praised for introducing a bill against hate speeches and hate crimes, Muslim organizations called Abu Asim Azmi’s step commendable.

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Mumbai: Leading Mumbai NGOs like OZ Seva Trust, Minara Masjid Trust, All India Ulema Board, Malik Liaquat Hussain Trust, National Uni-Ayush Activist Trust, Mumbai Central Association etc. today felicitated SP State President Abu Asim Azmi at Islam Gymkhana and appreciated his efforts to maintain unity and brotherhood in the society by respecting all religions in the Maharashtra Assembly. Azmi had introduced a bill in the Nagpur Assembly to enforce strict laws against religious hatred, blasphemy, prophets, religious leaders, and religious places, and hate speeches and hate crimes.

The event was organised at Islam Gymkhana, Mumbai. Addressing the event, Abu Asim Azmi said that nowadays hatred is being spread among the brothers by making objectionable or insulting inflammatory speeches against any religion, religious leader, religious book, religious place, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). This poses a threat to peace and order. Therefore, we have presented this bill in the Legislative Assembly against those who insult any religion, religious leader, religious book, religious place, or Prophet. This bill proposes a penalty of imprisonment for up to 10 years and a fine of up to Rs 2 lakh for those who make slanderous statements about any religion, religious leader, religious book, or religious place or spread it on social media. Such a punishment will curb hate speech and hate crimes. MLA Raees Shaikh, State Working President Yousuf Abrani, Chief General Secretary Meeraj Siddiqui and Advocate Rizwan Merchant, Maulana Ijaz Kashmiri, Nizamuddin Rain, Naseem Siddiqui, Sarfaraz Arjo were present at the event.

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Maharashtra

A split in Maha Vikas Aghadi before BMC elections, Congress’s slogan is ‘akela Chalo’

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The trumpet of the municipal elections has sounded in the state. Voting for 29 municipal corporations will be held on January 15, while the counting of votes will be held on January 16 and the results will be announced. In this election, everyone’s attention will be focused on the Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections. The Shiv Sena Thackeray group will try to retain power in the Municipal Corporation. While Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and BJP will try to rule the BMC in Mumbai. Negotiations on seat sharing are ongoing in Mahayoti, but the electoral understanding has not been completed yet. However, a major rift has arisen in the Maha Vikas Aghadi before the Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections. The Congress has announced to fight the Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections on its own. Due to which the competition in this election has intensified further.

Congress will fight the elections alone
Congress has announced to fight the Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections on its own. Congress’ Maharashtra in-charge Ramesh Chinnathala is currently on a visit to Maharashtra. After a meeting held in Mumbai today, Ramesh Chinnathala has said that he will fight the upcoming elections on his own. He said that there is a lot of corruption in Mumbai. That is why the Congress has decided to fight the elections alone. We have decided to fight against the BJP and the Shiv Sena Thackeray group. True patriots and secular people should support us in this fight. After coming to power, we will resolve the issues of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation in a good way. Therefore, I appeal to the voters to support us and we will develop Mumbai.

Mumbai Municipal Corporation Elections
The State Election Commission had announced the Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections in a press conference on December 15. According to this announcement, candidates will be able to file their applications from December 23 to December 30, 2025. The Election Commission will scrutinize the applications on December 31. Candidates can withdraw their applications till January 2, 2026. Voting for the Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections will be held on January 5. The voting will be held on January 16, 2026 and the results will be declared on the same day.

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Maharashtra

After Babri, it’s Kashi Mathura’s turn. Baba Bageshwar Dham’s provocation in Mumbai.

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Mumbai: After the Babri Masjid, now it is Kashi Mathura’s turn, the slogan and provocation has been given by Dhirendra Shastri Bageshwar Dham Baba here in Mumbai. While answering the question of journalists in Andheri, Bageshwar Dham said that the temple is ours and we cannot give it up. When Baba was asked that the dispute had ended after the Babri Masjid, then why is the process of finding temples in mosques going on, to which he said that there are temples in many places and the dispute here is old. On Hindu Rashtra, Bageshwar Dham made it clear that there is also room for Muslims in Hindu Rashtra, his aim is to strengthen Sanatan, while a pilgrimage for Hindu Rashtra will start in Maharashtra to promote Hindutva. He said that it is wrong to declare India a secular country because India has never been secular. He said that there is a need for brotherhood and unity in this country and for that he goes on pilgrimage. Baba, while spewing venom, said that if efforts are not made for Hindu Rashtra and Hindus are not united, then the time is not far when the invasion of India will take place. He said that highly educated doctors in the country are becoming terrorists. If there is a Hindu Rashtra, then a Muslim youth will become Abdul Kalam. Will the mayor of Mumbai be a Muslim or a Hindu? On this, Bageshwar Dham said that he is away from politics, so a candidate should be selected who is useful for the people.

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