MUMBAI: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Monday claimed that central probe agencies were "given targets" and they were working in a vindictive manner against leaders of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra.
Talking to reporters in New Delhi a day after Mumbai police recorded BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis's statement in a case of alleged illegal phone tapping, Raut said leaders of the MVA (comprising the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress) had also received notices from central agencies, but they did not stage dramas.
He was apparently referring to the BJP staging protests in parts of Maharashtra on Sunday by burning copies of the notice issued to Fadnavis in connection with the case.
Notably, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had arrested former state home minister Anil Deshmukh and current cabinet minister Nawab Malik in separate money laundering cases.
"The central probe agencies are working in a vindictive manner against leaders in Maharashtra. They have been given targets in Maharashtra. The probe agencies are working accordingly," Raut claimed.
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the tallest leader in the country, Raut claimed some people in the BJP were trying to dwarf him.
The Rajya Sabha member also hit out at BJP leader Nilesh Rane and his MLA brother Nitesh Rane for allegedly linking fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim with NCP chief Sharad Pawar.
Without naming the Rane brothers, Raut asked whether the language used by the duo against a "tall leader" like Pawar was acceptable to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union minister Nitin Gadkari and Fadnavis.