Sanjay Raut

Addressing Sena workers in Jalgaon in north Maharashtra on Saturday, Raut said, "The Shiv Sena had a secondary status in the previous government and was (treated) like slaves. Attempts were also made to finish off our party by misusing the very power which was enjoyed because of our support".

Raut has asked the chief minister to explore alternatives, as a complete lockdown would bring the economy to a halt.

Param Bir Singh had sent an eight-page letter to Thackeray on March 20, claiming that Deshmukh wanted police officers to collect Rs 100 crore monthly from bars and hotels. However, the minister had refuted the allegation.

"There is no division in the Shiv Sena over this issue. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has already ordered a probe. The state home minister has also given a statement. The decision regarding Sanjay Rathod's continuation on the post will be taken by the government," Sanjay Raut told reporters.

Participating in the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address in Rajya Sabha, Sena member Sanjay Raut said farmers fighting for their rights have been branded as anti-nationals or Khalistanis. He said the farmers, who were known as 'warriors' when they fought the Mughals and the British, are now dubbed as anti-nationals when they are fighting for their rights on Delhi’s borders.

The Rajya Sabha MP said he reached Ghazipur on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border along with other Shiv Sena MPs on instructions of Maharashtra Chief Minister and party supremo Uddhav Thackeray, even as the protest site virtually remained a heavily secured fortress for a second day.

The Shiv Sena has been supporting the farmers who are agitating at Delhi's border points for over two months against the Centre's three new farm laws.

Thousands of farmers from across Maharashtra have reached Mumbai to participate in a rally in Azad Maidan on Monday against the Centre's three new farm laws and to express solidarity with the farmers agitating near Delhi.

The ED said it has provisionally attached Rs 72 crore worth of assets of Pravin Raut under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) as it explained in a statement the alleged financial links between him his wife and that of Sanjay Raut's spouse.

Sanjay Raut told reporters that BJP leaders had a list of 22 MLAs of the Congress and the NCP with them "who will be made to resign under the pressure of the Central investigating agencies".

The fraud at PMC Bank came to light in September last year.

The BJP rubbished the Rajya Sabha member's claim, published in his weekly column Rokhthok in the Sena mouthpiece Saamana. "It is their single-point agenda to target the Modi government," Maharashtra BJP chief spokesperson Keshav Upadhye said.

Speaking to reporters later, Raut, executive editor of Saamana, said the UPA needs to expand to take on the "dictatorial" Union government.

Talking to reporters on the occasion of the National Farmers' Day, Sanjay Raut, without taking any names, alleged that attempts are being made to weaken cultivators to benefit some industrialists.

The Shiv Sena leader said the protesters are India's own farmers and the government should have a dialogue with them.

Pawar has vast experience, knowledge of the issues before the country and knows "the pulse of the people", the Sena Rajya Sabha MP said.

BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis last week said incidents of 'Love Jihad were taking place in the country and therefore, laws to curb the practice were justified. Some BJP-ruled states have announced plans to prevent the so-called 'Love Jihad, which refers to an alleged conspiracy to convert Hindu women by marrying them.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday announced that places of religious worship in Maharashtra, which have been shut since the COVID-19 lockdown in March, will reopen from Monday.

Reacting to the series of allegations, raised by BJP leader Kirit Somiaya, Sanjay Raut warned that if the BJP keeps digging old graves, then they will unearth skeletons of corruption involving the national party

Raut statement comes a day after the Maharashtra cabinet discussed the proposal of recommending to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari the names of 12 candidates for their nomination to the Upper House of the state legislature from his quota.