PUNE: Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patil on Friday targeted Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut and sought to known why he recently raked up the months-old issue of "bungalows" allegedly owned by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's wife in a village in Raigad district.
Patil said question arises whether Raut, a Rajya Sabha MP, did so at someone's behest to weaken the foundation of "Matoshree", the private residence of Thackeray in Mumbai's suburb of Bandra.
"Sanjay Raut's motive behind raking up the months-old issue of 19 bungalows (in Korlai village in Raigad district) looks doubtful. By raking up the issue, the question remains whether he is trying to weaken Matoshree. It seems all this is being done at someone's direction," said the former state minister.
BJP leader Kirit Somaiya had on Wednesday alleged that Raut, during a recent press conference, deliberately referred to the old controversy over "bungalows" in Korlai village as he bore a "grudge" against the Chief Minister and his family members for not backing him when certain allegations were raised against him.
The Sena MP has questioned the very existence of "bungalows" repeatedly mentioned by Somaiya.
On Tuesday, Raut had launched a personal attack against Somaiya, who has been raising a slew of allegations against leaders of the Shiv Sena and those of other parties in the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance in the state.
Maharashtra BJP leader Kirit Somaiya on Friday filed a complaint with the police in Raigad district seeking an inquiry into "bungalows" allegedly linked to Rashmi Thackeray, wife of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
Somaiya tweeted his complaint filed with the Revdanda police station in the adjoining district.
In a related development, family members of late architect Anvay Naik, linked to the property row, claimed the BJP leader has made their life 'miserable' and sought police protection from the government.
"We were told that there are 19 bungalows in Korlai village of Raigad district (allegedly) owned by Rashmi Uddhav Thackeray. The written answers to our queries were same so far."
"Today, we visited Korlai gram panchayat (administrative body of the village). Since last two days, the Sarpanch (elected head of gram panchayat) has been telling us that there are no bungalows," said Somaiya in his complaint.
The former MP asked the police to inquire what happened to these bungalows.
The BJP leader has been alleging that there was no mention about the ownership of the property in the CM's affidavit filed with the Election Commission when he was elected to the Legislative Council in May 2020.
However, the Shiv Sena, headed by Uddhav Thackeray, has in the past questioned the very existence of bungalows mentioned by Somaiya.
Sena MP and spokesperson Sanjay Raut had earlier challenged the BJP leader to show the sites where these houses have been constructed.
Somaiya separately said, "Documents provided by the Korlai gram panchayat indicate that Rashmi Uddhav Thackeray and Maneesha Ravindra Waikar (wife of a Shiv Sena leader) have purchased these houses from Anvay Naik. But Uddhav Thackeray never mentioned it in his election affidavit. So, who is talking the truth."
In May 2018, architect Naik, along with his mother Kumud Naik, were found dead at their bungalow in Alibaug.
According to the police, Anvay Naik had committed suicide.
The wife of Anvay Naik, Akshata, and their daughter Adnya on Friday claimed Somaiya has made their live 'miserable' by constantly maligning their image.
Speaking to reporters here on Friday after meeting state home minister Dilip Walse Patil, Akshata Naik said, "We requested for police protection from the home minister as Somaiya has made our life miserable."
Asked about the land deal, Adnya Naik said, "The land in question was sold when the BJP was in power (2014-19), but no leader spoke about it. Somaiya is now just indulging in politics over it."