|HT|
Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Assembly over the recent action of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the state, including attaching properties belonging to a company owned by his brother-in-law, Shridhar Patankar. According to reports, the Shiv Sena supremo dared the BJP to put him in jail to come to power. The Sena and BJP had severed decades-old ties in 2019 over power-sharing issues, following which the former allied with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress to form the government in Maharashtra.
"If you want to come to power, then come to power. But don't do all these vicious things to come to power. Don't harass our or anyone else's family members. We never bothered your family members," he said. "It is not that we are saying that your families have done something wrong or that they have something that we can trouble you about. If you want to put us in jail to come to power, put me in jail," he further said. The Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in the state has been accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of misusing central agencies against Opposition leaders. Weeks ago, the Income Tax department raided premises belonging to businessmen and individuals believed to be closely associated with Sena ministers Aaditya Thackeray and Anil Parab. Aaditya is the son of the chief minister. Earlier in the day, the ED attached assets worth ₹11.35 crore of Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik in the money laundering case linked to the National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL).
The chief minister also hit out at the BJP for demanding cabinet minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik's resignation following his arrest by the ED in a money laundering case related to fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim. “You ask for the resignation of Nawab Malik. Tell me first, why did you support Mehbooba Mufti who had sympathy for Afzal Guru and Burhan Wani,” Thackeray said. “Where is Dawood? Does anyone know where is he? You fought last elections in the name of Ram Mandir. Now, are you going to ask for votes in the name of Dawood? Did Obama ask for votes in the name of Laden? If you have guts then kill Dawood, will you?” he added.
(Except for the headline and the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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