ED raids Shiv Sena leader Pratap Sarnaik, incriminating evidences found
As the first anniversary of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi approaches, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) along with the help of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) raided the home and around nine other premises of senior Shiv Sena leader Pratap Sarnaik, before detaining his son Vihang, in Mumbai on Tuesday (November 24).
The reason, the ED used central forces to help conduct the raid is being seen as a lack of trust on the part of the Mumbai Police which comes under the preview of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackray.
The ED teams raided the house of Sarnaik in Thane’s Hiranandani Complex and in that process picked up his son Vihang Sarnaik.
The operation took four-hour then the ED team proceeded to the home of Vihang’s businessman brother, Purvesh Sarnaik.
According to reports, incriminating evidences have been gathered after simultaneous raids were carried out at the locations in Mumbai and Thane under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), official sources said.
Sarnaik, is a three-time MLA from Ovala-Majiwada constituency in Thane, and is the Chairman of Vihang Group of Companies with interests in varied sectors.
Immeadetley the ruling Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress party called these raids politically motivated and that the raids were conducted on behalf of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) o pressurise the MVA government and demoralise its leaders.
Sena Chief Spokesperson Sanjay Raut said, “We all know that the ED and CBI are being misused They are puppets in the hands of the Centre. But, we will not bow down before anybody,”.
Raut further added that the MVA will complete its full remaining term of four years, “and we will rule for another 25 years”. He also warned that the Shiv Sena dirt on BJP leaders, pertaining to money-laundering, ‘benami’ properties and other scams.
NCP senior leader and Food & Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal said “First they targeted (NCP President) Sharad Pawar with a notice last year, and then many other Opposition party leaders in Rajasthan, Maharashtra or other statesThis is sheer vendetta politics. But they will never succeed in their intentions,”.
Senior Congress state President and Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat said the BJP is using “all central agencies are being misused for political gains to build pressures”.
“The BJP has been constantly targeting political opponents like this Have you ever heard about any raids on people linked with BJP,” Thorat demanded.
Will Rajini take the plunge or not? What happened in the Shah-Gurumuthy meeting?
Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrived in Chennai on Saturday (November 21) to inaugurate various developmental projects and also to meet with the party’s Tamil Nadu unit office bearers ahead of the Assembly elections that is to happen in a few months.
During the government function held in Kalaivanar Arangam, Deputy CM O. Panneerselvam who is also the AIADMK’s coordinator declared in the presence of Home Minister Amit Shah that the party’s alliance with the BJP will continue for the upcoming elections which was also endorsed by CM Palaniswami.
Amit Shah too mentioned that the Centre would stand shoulder to shoulder with the Edappadi K Palaniswami government in serving the people of Tamil Nadu.
After the government function, Amit Shah headed straight to Hotel Leela Palace and had a brief meeting with CM Edappadi K Palaniswami, Deputy CM O. Panneerselvam and Sunil Kanugolu, AIADMK’s poll strategist. During the meeting, Amit Shah is said to have asked what plans the AIADMK has to win the elections and offered some inputs in going about it.
Later at 8 PM, at the state office bearers and district presidents meeting he is said to have given a rousing speech enthusing the cadres. He cited the case of how Assam where the party had less than 1% vote share became a state to be ruled by the BJP.
Post this, a core committee meeting comprising of 14 senior leaders of the party which includes BJP National General Secretary (Org) B.L. Santhosh, BJP TN President Dr. L. Murugan, party affairs in-charge of Tamil Nadu C.T. Ravi and Sudhakar Reddy, State Vice Presidents Vanathi Srinivasan, V.P. Duraiswamy, Karu Nagarajan and K. Annamalai, State General Secretary K.T. Raghavan, State Organizational Secretary Kesava Vinayagam, among others. During this meeting, strategies for the coming election is said to have been discussed with the state leaders being advised to strengthen the party at the booth level.
At around 11 PM, Editor of ‘Thuglak’ magazine Auditor S. Gurumurthy arrived at Leela Palace to meet Amit Shah. Gurumurthy and his son Srinivasan is also said to have been part of this core committee meeting. Later, Gurumurthy reportedly had a one-to-one meeting with Amit Shah during which he is said to have apprised about Rajinikanth’s political entry.
Gurumurthy has been one of the vocal advocates of Rajinikanth’s political entry and for long have been giving hopes to the people of Tamil Nadu and the BJP central leadership about the latter’s political plunge. It was expected that as and when Rajinikanth flouts his party, he would align with the BJP or the alliance in which the BJP is part of.
Though Rajinikanth declared in 2017 that he entering politics is assured, he is yet to officially launch his party and begin campaigning given that there are just a few months left for the elections.
Recently, a letter supposedly sent by Rajinikanth to cadres of the Rajini Makkal Mandram (RMM) got circulated in social media in which it was stated that the COVID-19 pandemic had disturbed his political plans and that the doctors had advised him to take rest as he had undergone a kidney replacement surgery. Though Rajini distanced himself from the letter stating that it was not his, he mentioned that information about his health in that letter were true. He also clarified that as far as his political plans are concerned, a call would be taken after consulting the office-bearers of RMM.
During the Shah-Gurumurthy meeting, the latter had told Amit Shah about all latest developments regarding Rajini’s political entry. He had also told Shah that Rajini wished to be a part of a coalition of non-Dravidian parties (DMK and AIADMK). Rajini is said to have spoken over phone to Amit Shah during which he reportedly said that his health prevented him from campaigning. Sources also note that he did not commit towards openly associating with the BJP. The Shah-Gurumurthy meeting reportedly ended at around 2:30 AM.
With Rajini still dillydallying about his political journey, Amit Shah has charted plans for the growth of the party with or without Rajinikanth’s support. Amit Shah knows that the growth of BJP is not dependent on one individual. He has asked the BJP Tamil Nadu to concentrate on working at the booth level to expand the party’s base. Based on reports from intelligence and RSS feeds, Amit Shah is said to have cemented the AIADMK-BJP alliance sensing that there exists a potential for the alliance to emerge victorious.