Maharashtra unit red-faced over ex-minister Raj Purohit’s revelations .
Mumbai : In a major embarrassment to the BJP, one of the senior most legislators, Raj Purohit, dropped his guard and was caught in a purported ‘sting’ operation questioning the style of functioning of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah and how the business community is drifting away from the saffron party because of its policies.
“There is no collective decision-making in the BJP… It is a fraud… (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi and (BJP President) Amit Shah are the two power centres in the country… Such a democracy is meaningless…they are calling the shots,” Purohit was caught saying in the video which was aired by local TV channels.
State BJP chief Raosaheb Patil Danve has called for the CDs and also summoned the five-time MLA and former Minister for an explanation.
Purohit is known for his networking with the business community and traders and has been their voice. His statements had even earlier caused severe embarrassment to his party.
Dropping hints about Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ alleged nexus with the builder lobby, Purohit claimed that the money power of a prominent builder had prevented him from becoming a minister in the current government.
“I have suffered injustice… I was a kingmaker…I could have been senior-most, next to (Eknath) Khadse only… But I was not made a minister,” Purohit claimed.
Purohit also blamed the party of favouring people who can bring money. “I could have been a minister if I’d have spent more money,” he said. “The RSS too is walking the same path,” he added.
He said that the late union minister Gopinath Munde never favoured an alliance with the Shiv Sena and “wanted to be chief minister right from the beginning”. The legislator added that if Munde had not died and become the chief minister, Fadnavis would have been just a minister and he himself would have been a kingmaker.
On his relations with another senior BJP leader, the late Pramod Mahajan, Purohit said they were “closest” to each other, and he had executed Mahajan’s plans.
Alleging that the prominent builder was using Mahajan’s money, Purohit said they had spent crores during elections.
Meanwhile, Raj Purohit’s office has been targeted, allegedly by members of the Raj Thackeray-led MNS, for comments against him. During the ‘sting’ he said with reference to Raj: “Bogus…he is not a leader…” In the evening, MNS activists visited his Kalbadevi office and tore apart some posters.
‘Voice is not mine’
On Friday night, Purohit, who is known to shoot off his mouth, claimed that the voice in the CD was not his and it must be sent for forensic examination. “The CD is bogus and imaginary,” he said in a press statement, adding that the entire ‘sting’ has been orchestrated to malign his image. “I have full faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah and Devendra Fadnavis is an ideal Chief Minister,” he said.
