Did Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut smuggle his column out of jail? The newest controversy, explained

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut is not one to mince his words and he has proved that time and time again through his weekly column — 'Rok Thok' — in the party’s mouthpiece, Saamna.

His writings in the column have often sparked controversy and Sunday’s writing was no different. This time, the column even garnered attention from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials. As per a report in the Times of India, ED officials will now question the Rajya Sabha MP as to whether he had written the piece and passed it out of jail illegally.

What’s the controversy all about? Did Sanjay Raut really smuggle his column out of jail? Here’s what we know so far.

Raut’s column drama

On Sunday, Sanjay Raut’s column, 'Rok Thok', was published despite the Shiv Sena MP being behind bars. Raut has been placed under ED custody until 8 August after he was arrested in a money laundering case on 1 August.

According to the ED, Raut was found to be the beneficiary of Rs 1.17 crore of proceeds of crime in addition to Rs 1.06 crore in connection to the redevelopment of the Patra Chawl in Mumbai’s suburban Goregaon area. He has denied any wrongdoing and called the ED case against him as “false”.

In his recently-published column, Raut slammed Governor B S Koshyari over his remark that if Gujaratis and Rajasthanis were excluded, there would be no money left in Mumbai. It also mentions Koshyari’s apology for his remark, which was issued the day after Raut’s arrest.

Raut, who is the newspaper’s executive editor, said that while the Maharashtrians did not control the finances of Mumbai, history was witness to how they had forged the city and its fortunes over the centuries.

"In Mumbai, the Marathi manoos kept labouring hard and fighting adversity. Everyone else came here only for lakshmi darshan (earning money),” read the column. Raut added that Gujarati traders had come to Mumbai in the 17th century during the reign of the East India Company to escape religious persecution at the hands of the Muslim rulers of Gujarat.

“It is true that they (Gujaratis) run the finances of Mumbai, but this does not reduce the importance of the working class,” said Raut.

“Gujarat and Maharashtra were once part of one state. Now, they are twin siblings. Then, why try to sour their relationship?” Raut questioned Koshyari.

“Mumbai is part of Maharashtra’s geography and the Marathi manoos have the first right over it. He may be weak in terms of finance and now, earning money is itself an offence. The ED has shuttered the sugar factories, spinning mills and other industries owned by the Marathi manoos and has launched an offensive against Marathi entrepreneurs,” said Raut, urging the Governor to speak about this as well.

Sena leaders speculate that Saamna staffers were responsible for the weekly column, which featured Raut’s byline and photograph.

However, the ED will question Raut over the column, as he isn’t allowed to write columns or articles while in custody, unless specific permission had been granted, which in Raut’s case hadn’t been given. They will probe if Raut had illegally passed out material from jail for the column.

Raut and his connection to Saamna

Sanjay Raut, considered to be Uddhav Thackeray’s closest aide has been the executive editor of the party newspaper, Saamna, since 1991. When Bal Thackeray was the editor, Raut would conduct three-part interviews with the Sena supremo, projecting him as a statesman.

After Bal Thackeray’s demise, Raut’s weekly column 'Rok Thok' became very popular and also an indicator of the party’s stance on various issues.

Even though the printline carries the name of Rashmi Thackeray, Uddhav's wife, as editor, it is reported that Raut runs the show.

It is interesting to note here that Uddhav Thackeray resigned as Saamna editor after he became chief minister. Uddhav’s wife, Rashmi, was made editor-in-chief of Saamna in March 2020.

According to a report published in the Hindustan Times, Raut would monitor the editorial functioning of the newspaper during his morning visits to his second-floor cabin in Sadguru Darshan building at Prabhadevi in Mumbai.

On 5 August, it was reported that Uddhav had taken charge of the newspaper following the arrest of Raut.

Raut, in the past, has used the column to attack their one-time ally and now rival — the BJP. As recently as April, Raut accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of adopting a strategy of sowing religious discord to win elections, which had the potential of breaking the country. His column came as the country saw communal clashes on Ram Navami.

Before being picked up by the ED, Raut in his previous column accused the Union government of misusing central agencies to harass the opposition leaders, calling it the ‘death of democracy’.

The senior Sena leader wrote, “The Bharatiya Janata Party has good people as well as business-minded people. Such people are there in all political parties but the Union government only goes after those who are with the Opposition. This is the death of democracy. The Money Laundering Act is meant to restrict ill-gotten gains and their owners. It is to prevent financial turnover in drugs, smuggling and through hawala channels. However, in our country, only the politicians fear being targeted under the Money Laundering Act.”

In his column, Raut further alleged that the BJP was indulging in a form of corruption where they first make allegations against opposition leaders and once those same people join BJP, they are given a clean chit.

With inputs from agencies

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