MVA calls ED action against Shiv Sena MLA political vendetta

Sarnaik's son Vihang was taken to the Enforcement Directorate's office for questioning. Pic/Suresh Karkera

Following the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) raids on Tuesday at the residence and offices of Thane's Shiv Sena legislator Pratap Sarnaik, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of misusing Central agencies against political opponents. The ruling alliance said the Centre's pressure tactics would not impact the state government's stability.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) boss Sharad Pawar said that instead of using its power to resolve public issues, the Centre was troubling opponents. "The MVA will go ahead meeting all the challenges," he said after admitting the former BJP leader and minister, Jaisingrao Gaikwad, into his party in Mumbai.

Pratap Sarnaik

Speaking at the function, several leaders recalled Pawar's tryst with ED which changed the political tide against the BJP last year.

Support for Sarnaik

Sarnaik, the MLA from Ovala-Majiwada constituency of Thane, returned home from abroad Tuesday afternoon. "I don't know what it is about," he said after meeting Sena spokesperson and MP Sanjay Raut.

Raut said the party fully supported Sarnaik. "This is nothing but political vendetta. We will not buckle under any pressure and surrender," he said. State Congress president and minister Balasaheb Thorat said his party stood in solidarity with Sarnaik "who is being targeted for political reasons".

Fadnavis speak

Opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis said Sarnaik shouldn't fear the ED if he was innocent. 'ED must have got something to support the action," he said.

Earlier in the day, Sarnaik's son Vihang was brought to the ED's office for questioning. This was following raids at premises linked to his father in connection with a money laundering case being probed against a security service provider company and others. ED raided various premises linked to Sarnaik in Mumbai and neighbouring Thane, official sources said.

Sarnaik was in the news when he wrote a letter seeking the re-opening of an alleged abetment to suicide case of 2018 in which Republic TV's editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami was arrested by Mumbai police recently.

Sarnaik had also demanded a unanimous resolution in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly for legal action against actress Kangana Ranaut, who, he said, has "maligned" the image of Maharashtra and Mumbai through her tweets.

Inputs from agencies

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