‘CDs, honey trapping’: Sanjay Raut says BJP plotted MVA govt’s fall in 2022 through shady operation
Sanjay Raut said the BJP-orchestrated operation involved blackmail with videos targeting 16-17 MLAs and four MPs.
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Prafull Lodha was named as the alleged mastermind behind the 2022 operation, claiming he had close ties with senior BJP leaders, including Fadnavis. (File Photo)Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut Monday alleged that a sophisticated honeytrap operation was used to bring down the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in 2022, accusing the BJP of orchestrating the plot through blackmail involving videos of sitting MLAs and MPs.
Addressing the media in Mumbai, Raut claimed that 16-17 MLAs and four MPs were allegedly targeted through this operation, which he said involved surveillance and entrapment, rather than pressure from Central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) or the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
“This was not ED or CBI pressure. These were CDs. Honey trapping happened at a very different level,” Raut said.
The MVA government of the undivided Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress in Maharashtra fell in 2022 after a rebellion led by Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde and several other MLAs. Shinde then formed a government with the BJP and became the chief minister, with BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, the incumbent chief minister, serving as his deputy.
Raut named one Prafull Lodha as the alleged mastermind behind the 2022 operation, claiming he had close ties with senior BJP leaders, including Fadnavis. Raut also demanded a probe into a purported photograph showing Lodha with Fadnavis, alleging that “the mastermind of the honeytrap is part of their Cabinet”.
Raut said Maharashtra Police teams were conducting searches at multiple locations linked to Lodha in an attempt to locate four pen drives and two CDs, which allegedly contain sensitive material involving legislators. The trail of the alleged operation, he said, runs through Jalgaon, Jamner, Nashik, and Delhi.
He added that while no formal police complaint has been filed so far, “visual evidence exists”, and further disclosures will be published in Saamana, the Shiv Sena (UBT)’s mouthpiece.
The Rajya Sabha MP also alleged that both Fadnavis and BJP minister Girish Mahajan were aware of the operation, and accused them of defending tainted figures within the government. “Fadnavis is lying. He has a law degree but lacks sensitivity,” Raut said, adding that the ruling party was shielding a Cabinet minister with alleged gambling habits.
He called on the media to interview Eknath Khadse, a senior leader who left the BJP in 2020, saying “many buried truths” about the operation would emerge through him.
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