Key mover behind MVA, BJP detractor Sanjay Raut now under ED glare

As the party spokesperson, Raut’s vocal optimism of the MVA’s prospects and his vocabulary of criticism – whether directed towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP, or the detractors in the Shiv Sena – have earned him a fair share of political adversaries.

He is now at the centre of the ED investigation into alleged irregularities in a chawl redevelopment project at Mumbai’s Goregaon area. Raut has claimed that the raids were being conducted out of “political vendetta”.

A section of the Shiv Sena feels that Raut continues to be Thackeray’s trusted aide, a role he played when the Sena chief was the CM. A senior party leader said, “There is a realisation within the party that he speaks too much. But at this point of time, when the party is facing a crisis of its survival, there are no leaders in the Shiv Sena who can defend the Thackerays with the conviction that Sanjay Raut does”.

The Sena faction led by incumbent CM Eknath Shinde, which rebelled against Uddhav, finds his allegiance to the family disconcerting and also blames his claims that the Shiv Sena could take on BJP as one of the reasons for the split in the party.

While NCP and Congress leaders are backing Raut, the Shinde faction has said that the law will take its course. Shinde said on Sunday, “The ED is conducting its inquiry. Let the inquiry be complete. He (Sanjay Raut) has said that he did nothing wrong. So no need to fear if there is no wrongdoing. He was a big leader of MVA and he has been saying that he will face the inquiry. So let the inquiry take place, we come to know the outcome.”

Rebel Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Shirsat said, “He is not a mass leader. He is just a spokesperson. There is no possibility that Shiv Sainiks will rise up in large numbers in his support because of this action. This country is run by the rule of law. If he has not committed any mistake he will be let off.”

A meteoric rise

Raut was born in Alibaug in 1961 and shifted to Ghatkopar as a child. After graduating in Commerce, he started his career as a reporter in 1980 with the Mumbai-based ‘Marmik’, a Marathi weekly. In 1981, he joined the editorial board of the Lokprabha, the Marathi weekly of The Indian Express Group, where he did a series of investigative stories on Mumbai’s underworld.

While in his thirties, in 1991, he was handpicked by Sena founder Bal Thackeray and made Executive Editor of ‘Saamana’. It was here that he developed a close relationship with Bal Thackeray and subsequently with Uddhav and Raj Thackeray. He cemented his close ties with Uddhav by backing him in the battle with Raj Thackeray for control of the Sena. Raj Thackeray quit the party in 2005 and later floated the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.

Raut was an early supporter of Narendra Modi, but his attitude towards Modi changed after the BJP’s massive win in the 2014 elections as he felt that the party would become a threat to the Sena and became a vocal critic of the BJP. As an MP, Raut is said to have spent a considerable time in close proximity with NCP chief Sharad Pawar and was one of the main proponents of the idea that the BJP was out to finish the Sena.