Sanjay Raut disputes PM's claim about sacking of Hridaynath Mangeshkar from AIR

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Thursday objected to Prime Minister Narendra Modis claim that musician Hridaynath Mangeshkar was sacked from the All India Radio AIR for presenting a poetry on freedom fighter Veer SavarkarAsked by a reporter whether the PM had made the reference in view of the upcoming Goa Assembly elections Raut said it is possible considering the Mangeshkar family traces its roots to the coastal state where polls for the 40member House will be held on February 14ldquoIt is possible He is a great prime minister It seems to me that no one became prime minister before him and there will be none afterwards Raut said sarcasticallyI respect Modi him a lot He is a big leader I dont want to comment on him It happens in politics people say something we should understandrdquo the Rajya Sabha member said addressing media persons in DelhiSpeaking in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday Modi had launched listed instances of past Congress governments muzzling the freedom of expression and cited Lata Mangeshkars musician brother Hridaynath Mangeshkar being sacked from the AIR for presenting a poetry on SavarkarRaut on Thursday said he has heard that song all his life on the Akashvani itself which popularised that songldquoIt is a convention that a person occupying a constitutional post at least should not lie But I salute the prime ministerrdquo Raut said in sarcastic commentsThe Sena leader said as per his information there is no record of Hridaynath Mangeshkar being sacked by the AIRldquoIf a composer is removed from the job for playing a certain song that song will not be played again on the Akashvani for these many years Why would they play itrdquoldquoI listen to it even today on the Akashvani and Doordarshan We all hear it This song has a place in our heartsrdquo Raut said adding that he is a devotee of Savarkar and that sentiment is not some dramaThe parliamentarian also hit out at Modi over his claim that when people were following lockdown and COVID19 norms the Congress was standing at railway stations in Mumbai and scaring innocent labourers into fleeing to their native statesldquoHow much are you going to lie At least one leader from the Maharashtra BJP should have condemned this remark Is this your love for Maharashtrardquo Raut askedOn Modis reported remark that there is a BJP wave in the five pollbound states Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand Punjab Goa and Manipur Raut said ldquoIt is great and I wish him luckrdquoThe Rajya Sabha member also targeted Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil over his recent claim that the party will return to power in the state after March 10 after results of the Assembly polls in five states are outldquoI wish them luck A new date has been given These people must be bailiff in some court which is why they get confused about datesrdquo he said taking a jibe at the BJPMaharashtra is at present being governed by the Maha Vikas Aghadi comprising the Shiv Sena NCP and CongressRaut who had claimed he was offered to assist in lsquotopplingrsquo the MVA government without naming anyone asserted that the Shiv Sena and Maharashtra will not bow down before any ldquoTom Dick and HarryrdquoThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever