Nagpur: Maharashtra Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Friday said the book “Narakatla Swarg” written by Shiv Sena UBT MP Sanjay Raut must be investigated as it contains controversial remarks about the judicial process. Blaming Raut for being singularly responsible for the split in “Balasaheb Thackeray’s Shiv Sena”, Bawankule said the book is merely a “face saving measure”.
Speaking to reporters in Nagpur on Friday, the state BJP chief said, “I have not read the book, but was sent some excerpts. Sanjay Raut has apparently made some controversial statements regarding the judicial process. This is a very serious issue and must be investigated.” When asked by reporters if Raut’s book is a contempt of court, Bawankule said, “I will read it and comment, but based on what I have heard, there are grave allegations. Raut should have given ‘Narkatla Raut’ title to his book,” Bawankule said.
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Talking about the book, Bawankule said, “Things written about PM Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah are absolutely false. Modiji got the Supreme Court’s clean chit in the Godhra case and Shah’s arrest was a political one. Raut is morally bankrupt and is doing it for political gains.” Bawankule said Raut has timed his book as a face-saving measure.
“Very soon Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) will collapse. Congress is determined to leave the alliance. And you all know what Sharad Pawar is doing. So Raut thought that by writing such a book, at least he can deflect some of the blame to someone else,” said Bawankule. He said everyone blames Raut for Shiv Sena’s split.
“Be it BJP or Shiv Sena, everybody knows it happened due to him. Raut has wiped out Balasaheb’s Shiv Sena. Now he is going to be the reason for MVA’s collapse,” said Bawankule. He also added that the Congress party is a ‘directionless’ party. “Nobody knows where it is headed. Neither the high command nor the booth-level worker,” said Bawankule.
In the book, Raut claimed that the Shiv Sena Chief late Balasaheb Thackeray, and NCP-SP chief Sharad Pawar helped Modi and Shah when they faced political and legal troubles, yet the “two were ungrateful.” “During the 2002 Gujarat riots, former Gujarat Chief Minister Modi, was about to be arrested. It was Pawar who opposed the arrest as he was an elected CM, thus shielding him,” said. Raut, adding that Pawar might tell the truth.
Raut made a similar allegation against Shah, saying he reached out to Balasaheb Thackeray when the CBI opposed bail during a trial in a murder case. Raut recalled Thackeray personally made a few calls for Shah’s bail. Raut held Shah responsible for the split in the undivided Shiv Sena and said, “This is how he repaid the Thackeray family.”
