BJP implicates opponents in false cases to put pressure on them, says Sanjay Raut

Pic: PTI File

The BJP implicates opponents in false cases to build pressure on them and this is the ruling party's "way to carry out development", Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said on Saturday.

Talking to reporters, he also said Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar leader Supriya Sule will retain her Baramati Lok Sabha seat by a huge margin irrespective of who the opponent is.

There is speculation that Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra Pawar might be fielded against Sule by the ruling alliance, which also includes the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.

Sule and Ajit Pawar are cousins and Sunetra Pawar is her sister-in-law. "The BJP implicates opponents in false cases to puts pressure on them. Ajit Pawar is an example of that," Raut said. Ajit Pawar and eight MLAs split the Sharad Pawar-founded NCP in July last year and joined the Shinde government. "Tomorrow Ashok Chavan will also get a clean chit. This is the BJP way to carry out development," he said.

Chavan, a former Congress chief minister, joined the BJP recently.

Meanwhile, a video of Shiv Sena MLA from Buldhana, Sanjay Gaikwad, thrashing a youth with a stick has gone viral, inviting sharp criticism from the opposition which claimed the law and order situation is deteriorating in the state.

Gaikwad said he beat up the youth as the latter was part of an anti-social gang and had hit a policeman.

The incident occurred on February 19 during Shiv Jayanti celebrations, he said. "(It is observed that) A gang of youth consumes alcohol and drugs and attacks people, especially women, during events like Shiv Jayanti and Ambedkar Jayanti," the Buldhana MLA said.

When people brought the illegal act to my notice, I told the police but the gang also attacked a police personnel, he claimed. "The police personnel fell on the ground in the attack after which I intervened," Gaikwad said.

Latching on the video, the leader of the opposition in the assembly, Vijay Wadettiwar, said the "goon" attacking a youth is an MLA of the faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and questioned the law and order situation in the state.

The Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) also raised concerns over the law and order situation when ruling party MLAs resort to such an act.

Gaikwad is, however, not new to controversies.

Gaikwad had last month claimed that he had hunted a tiger in 1987 and has been wearing its tooth around his neck, following which the state Forest department seized the accessory and booked him under the Wildlife Protection Act. (With inputs from PTI)