Reacting to Enforcement Directorate attaching his properties, Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut, on Tuesday, said he will fight and expose everyone, and claimed that "truth will prevail."
"Am I Vijay Mallya, Mehul Choksi, Nirav Modi, Ambani or Adani? I live in a small house. I don't even have an acre of land in my native place, Alibaug. Whatever wealth I have, I gained through hard work. Now the central agency thinks I am into money laundering," he said, and claimed that the action against him is clearly one of political vendetta.
He claimed that the move against him is part of the conspiracy to topple the Maha Vikas Aghadi government. "I am not one to get scared, seize my property, shoot me, or send me to jail. Sanjay Raut is Balasaheb Thackeray's follower and a Shiv Sainik, he will fight and expose everyone. I am not one to stay quiet, let them dance. The truth will prevail."
He dubbed the ED action to attach his property an attack on “middle class Marathi manoos.”
When asked about the ED action against Raut, Maharashtra Minister Aaditya Thackeray said, "Whatever is happening is a part of political vendetta and not democratic."
The ED has attached eight land parcels in Alibaug in adjoining Raigad district and a flat in Mumbai's Dadar area linked to Raut and his family under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The NCP accused the BJP of indulging in politics of vendetta and misusing Central probe agencies to muzzle the voices of MVA leaders in Maharashtra.
Maharashtra NCP chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapase charged the BJP with targeting the Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders as the NDA constituent could not form a government in the state after the 2019 assembly polls.
Tapase also raised questions over the timing of the Enforcement Directorate's action, saying it swung into action as soon as the Maharashtra government formed a special investigation team (SIT) to probe Raut's allegation of extortion against some of the probe agency's officials.
“The BJP government at the Centre is misusing its probe agencies to muzzle voices of its political opponents. What is going on (in Maharashtra)? This is politics of vendetta that's going on in Maharashtra,” Tapase said in a video statement.
—With PTI inputs
