Sanjay Raut, a leader of the Shiv Sena [UBT], has questioned whether the Pulwama terror attack, in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel were killed in February 2019, was staged to win the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
Raut has demanded that a sedition case be lodged against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, stated a report in The Hindu.
His remarks came after former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik claimed in an interview that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had dissuaded him from speaking about lapses that had led to the Pulwama incident. Raut has also called for responsible ministers to be court-martialled for the attack.
Malik's interview reveals lapses in Pulwama incident
Reportedly, Malik, during his interview, claimed that the CRPF had asked for aircraft to ferry their personnel as a convoy of 78 vehicles carrying over 2,500 personnel was too big to travel by road.
Malik’s remarks led Raut to say that the Opposition had asked these questions at the time of the attack but had been silenced by the BJP. Malik’s interview has brought out the “explosive truth about Pulwama,” according to Raut.
He has also questioned how RDX reached Pulwama despite tight security, asking why no air support was provided to the convoy. Security personnel do not normally travel along the Pulwama road.
Failure to bring economic offenders to justice
Raut also attacked the Modi government for its “failure” to bring economic offenders like Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi and Vijay Mallya to justice. He also called for a probe against Gautam Adani, a friend of the BJP.
Raut claimed that the BJP was trying to strangle the opposition by unleashing central agencies on them and framing them. He alleged that the BJP was trying to break the Nationalist Congress Party using the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation. Arvind Kejriwal has been slapped with a CBI notice while Tejashwi Yadav received ED and CBI summons, according to Raut.
Maha Vikas Aghadi rally in Nagpur
Speaking on the mega Maha Vikas Aghadi rally to be held in Nagpur on April 16, Raut said that the city’s political demography had changed. He asserted that the MVA would win not just major polls in Nagpur in the future but civic and local body polls as well, despite any obstacles placed in its path.
