MUMBAI: Calling prime minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with chief ministers of states on Covid-19 a “one-sided conversation,” Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Thursday said the meeting was used to “taunt CMs of non-BJP-ruled states.” Raut also tweeted a copy of an FIR against independent MP Navneet Rana registered at Mulund police station and said that Rana was out on bail in a “fake caste certificate case.”
“It was a meeting of chief ministers of states. It was supposed to be a meeting on the Covid-19 pandemic. But the PM spoke on other issues more, and be it Mamata Banerjee or Uddhav Thackeray or K Chandrashekhar Rao, you see their statements and you will find that it was a unilateral conversation. There was more taunting of CMs from non-BJP-ruled states. This was not expected from the PM. Even the issue about VAT on fuel prices was unnecessary. Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray has already made clear what he wanted to say,” Raut said.
On the BJP’s allegation about photos of accused Yusuf Lakdawala with Congress and NCP ministers, he said, “The question is not who has taken photos with whom. The question is who had financial transactions with an accused who was arrested by the ED in a Rs 200 crore money laundering case. Why did the ED not call them for questioning? The Maharashtra home minister has already announced a probe,” Raut said.
Raut had alleged that MP Navneet Rana had taken a loan from Lakdawala and demanded that the ED probe the matter. He said he would write to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla about Rana’s loan of Rs 80 lakh from Lakdawala. Raut also alleged that the Dawood gang and the underworld were behind “the attempt to vitiate Mumbai’s atmosphere through Hanuman Chalisa and loudspeakers, just like they did in 1992-93.”
Meanwhile, Uddhav Thackeray has called a meeting of all Shiv Sena MPs on Friday. A senior Sena functionary said, “The meeting will be held at Varsha bungalow (the CM’s official residence) and a discussion is expected on the political situation, the loudspeaker row, the MNS factor and the Ranas (Navneet and Ravi) and the upcoming municipal elections. Many senior Sena leaders will also be present.”
