Startling allegations have surfaced as Sada Sarvankar, a Shiv Sena MLA affiliated with Eknath Shinde’s faction, claimed that Sanjay Raut, the executive editor of Shiv Sena’s Saamana mouthpiece, once urged him to set fire to the residence of then Maharashtra Chief Minister Manohar Joshi. Sarvankar further alleged that Raut demanded a staggering sum of Rs 10 crore in exchange for a legislative assembly ticket. Despite multiple attempts to reach him for a comment, Sanjay Raut remained unavailable.
The backdrop to these shocking claims lies in the attack on Joshi’s residence in Mumbai’s Shivaji Park area, which occurred in September 2009, just before the state assembly elections. This attack transpired when Sarvankar was denied a ticket by the Shiv Sena. Subsequently, Sarvankar briefly joined the Congress before returning to the Shiv Sena fold after several years.
Addressing an event in Kolhapur, Sarvankar recounted, “When Manohar Joshi served as the Chief Minister, I was denied a ticket for the assembly elections. Upon inquiring with Joshi, he directed me to ‘Matoshree,’ the residence of the Thackeray family, to request a ticket. Upon my visit to Matoshree, I was informed that Joshi had revoked my ticket. Milind Narvekar, a close aide of Uddhav Thackeray, advised me to launch an attack on Joshi’s house. Meanwhile, I received a call from Raut, instructing me to use petrol to set Joshi’s house ablaze. We followed Matoshree’s orders and attacked Joshi’s residence.”
“Due to my inability to pay Rs 10 crore, every effort was made to allocate the ticket to another party leader, Adesh Bandekar. Such incidents were unheard of during Balasaheb’s time. After forming a government with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress, Uddhav Thackeray sought to elevate his son, Aaditya, to a prominent leadership position. During that period, Thackeray barely engaged with his own MLAs. Consequently, Shiv Sainiks rallied behind Eknath Shinde and his leadership.” Responding to these startling accusations, Ambadas Danve, a Shiv Sena leader and the leader of the opposition in the Maharashtra legislative council, remarked, “Sarvankar is making these allegations after 20-25 years. He initially joined the Congress and then returned to the Shiv Sena. Currently, he stands with individuals considered traitors. It would have been more appropriate had he voiced these concerns earlier.”