Sanjay Raut, the motormouth leader of Shiv Sena, is in trouble as his wife is allegedly involved in the 1,000 crores PMC scam. Varsha Raut, the wife of Sanjay Raut, received 50 lakh rupees from the people involved in the PMC scam. Enforcement Directorate, the economic offences investigation agency, has summoned his wife in the case, but she has asked for more time on account of “illness”.
A frustrated Raut called this an act of cowardice by the BJP led union government. “Targeting the women of a household is an act of cowardice,” Raut told reporters. “We are not scared of anyone and will respond accordingly. ED needed some papers and we have submitted them in time.”
However, Raut’s wife has defied two summons by ED and has asked for some time till the 5th of January. Amid all this, the Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar are yet to extend their support to Raut or issue a statement against the central government. Instead of coming clear in the matter and cooperating with the investigation agency, Raut wants to escape by taking the name of other big NCP leaders who have been summoned by NCP.
“Sharad Pawar, Praful Patel and Pratap Sarnaik too were summoned by the ED. Why didn’t the agency investigate any BJP leader?” Raut asked.
The past few months suggest that Raut has spared no stone unturned to court Pawar and jumped at the first opportunity available to praise the former Maharashtra Chief Minister because he was being ignored by Shiv Sena high command despite all his sycophancy.
Raut, a Rajya Sabha MP, has no real support base on the ground and often puts the Sena in a spot either with his interviews or his opinion-editorials in Sena’s propaganda outlet, Saamna. His brother, Sunil Raut, a two time MLA, too has been ignored by Uddhav Thackeray as he had not inducted him in his council of ministers even during the cabinet expansion earlier in August with Sanjay Raut even skipping the cabinet expansion.
While Raut dismissed the news of him being upset over his brother’s rejection, it was reported that Sunil Raut had gone incommunicado for a few days after it was confirmed that he was not going to be inducted in the Council of Ministers during the cabinet expansion.
In the latest episode of Raut’s love affair with Pawar, the former wrote about how Pawar should be the UPA Chairperson of a UPA consisting of non-aligned parties like YSRCP, TRS and BJD which would pose a formidable challenge to the incumbent BJP-led NDA. Raut, thereby, tried to be in Pawar’s good books by rekindling his long lost dream of becoming the Prime Minister of India.
If Raut’s comments were to be observed minutely, there are clear indications that he will be open to following the lead of Pawar into the NCP if the situation arises.
However, in the latest PMC episode, neither Sharad Pawar nor Uddhav Thackeray has uttered a single word against the Union government or even in support of Sanjay Raut. Pawar, who was quick to support leaders like Mamata Banerjee against the Union government, has maintained strategic silence in the matter. It seems that both parties have deserted the loudmouth leader as he has turned into a liability for them.