Raut-ed? The journalist who became the Shiv Sena voice and is blamed for the party split

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut was arrested at midnight after being questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the redevelopment of a chawl project in Mumbai. He was produced before a court at 11.30 am on Monday, where the agency will seek his custody.

The Sena MP’s arrest comes after the ED conducted a raid for over nine hours at his residence in the eastern suburb of Bhandup. He was detained for questioning in the alleged money laundering linked to the redevelopment of the Patra Chawl in Mumbai’s Goregaon suburb and related transactions that involve his wife Varsha and his close aides.

The ED reached Raut’s home early morning on Sunday after he refused to appear for questioning despite being summoned twice.

The Rajya Sabha lawmaker, who is in the Uddhav Thackeray faction, has denied any wrongdoing and alleged that he was being targeted because of “political vendetta”.

#WATCH | Mumbai: Earlier visuals of Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut when he was taken to the ED office after being detained by ED officials from his residence pic.twitter.com/nZrWKecNeI

— ANI (@ANI) July 31, 2022

Raut is a powerful figure in the party – a close confidante of the former Maharastra chief minister – and the Shiv Sena has planned a big agitation over his arrest. Party workers stage a sit-in protest outside his residence on Sunday to show their support for the 60-year-old leader.

In the Uddhav faction, Raut remains No 2. However, the Eknath Shinde faction, which has formed a government in Maharashtra with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after a rebellion, does not hold such high regard for the Rajya Sabha MP and blames him for the split.

We take a look at how Raut rose to prominence in the Shiv Sena.

The voice of Shiv Sena

Today, the bespectacled leader is the voice of the Uddhav faction of the Shiv Sena, calling the shots and ushering in big changes. But the former journalist has worked his way to the top.

He hails from Chondhi village in Alibaug, a coastal area near Mumbai, and grew up in Dadar, a stronghold of the party. His father was a Shiv Sainik and Raut followed in his footsteps.

Raut started his career freelancing for the Marathi magazine Ranjan. He then joined Marmik, the political magazine started by Bal Thackeray and here his association with the Shiv Sena supremo began.

As a writer of Marmik, he shared a stage with Thackeray at the magazine’s foundation day celebration in August 1984 and left an impression.

Raut quit Marmik and then joined the Marathi daily Loksatta and went on to work for Lokprabha, the Marathi newspaper of The Indian Express Group, where did investigative reports on the Mumbai underworld.

When Bal Thackeray founded the Saamna, he reached out to Raut. In his early thirties, the sharp journalist was made the executive editor of the party mouthpiece in 1991. There was no looking back since. He became closer to the Thackeray family and eventually the messenger who relayed the vision of Bal Thackeray to the Sena cadre.

The Saamna editorials -- sometimes witty often acerbic and stinging -- were considered a diktat among Sainiks and the party’s followers. They have an enviable following, especially in the Marathi-speaking population in the state. Many a time the newspaper’s controversial writings, closely monitored by newsrooms, make national headlines

The credit for making Saamna editorials so popular lies solely with Raut. He is said to be quite a workaholic and reportedly even posted his angioplasty until the pain in his chest became unbearable, reports ThePrint.

“He believes that at least one page has to be written a day. Wherever he is, he writes that one page,” a source told the ThePrint.

Beyond Saamna

Raut became more powerful in the party after the ties between Uddhav Thackeray and his cousin Raj began to sour. He was a friend of the latter and tried to play peacemaker. When Raj Thackeray split from the Shiv Sena and floated the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena many party leaders joined him. Raut’s decision to stay by Bal Thackeray’s side came as a surprise.

Since then, he has risen to prominence. For his loyalty to the party founder, Raut was elevated to Delhi – first elected to Rajya Sabha in 2004 and continues as an MP, now in his third term,

After Bal Thackeray passed away and Uddhav took charge, Raut become No 2 in the party.

The man behind MVA

Raut was a supporter of Narendra Modi but his attitude changed after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept the 2014 election. He felt that the saffron party would become a threat to the Shiv Sena and turned critic, according to a report in The Indian Express. During this time, he became closer to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar.

It was Raut who was among the first who is said to have fanned the idea that the BJP wants to finish the Shiv Sena.

As the tension between the Shiv Sena rose and the alliance broke up, the Saamna editor had ideas of his own. In 2019, he is said to be instrumental to Uddhav Thackeray’s rise to the chief minister’s chair. Raut was the one who reportedly urged him to join hands with Congress and the NCP. It led to the formation of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, an unlikely alliance.

The Shiv Sena had rubbed its 25-year-old ally, the BJP, in the wrong way.

Raut’s alleged role in the Sena split

It seemed like a big victory for the party then, but in hindsight, the MVA alliance led to cracks in the Shiv Sena.

The man, who engineered the MVA, further cemented his position as No 2 in the party. This alienated Eknath Shinde and other long-time loyalists, who after the revolt, have accused Uddhav Thackeray of being inaccessible. The rebel faction hinting at Raut has said that the then chief minister only listened to his coterie and paid no heed to the woes of the party workers.

As Eknath Shinde led the rebellion in the Shiv Sena, many from the breakaway faction blamed Raut for the split and accused him of wanting to finish the party with the help of the NCP. The MP went all out slamming the rebels, calling them “living corpses”

“No party should have a spokesperson like Sanjay Raut. He is on a mission to finish the party. All the MLAs are upset with his statements and more are joining us,” Deepak Kesarkar, the spokesperson for the Shinde camp, told The Indian Express last month.

According to the report, another rebel MLA Sanjay Rathod had earlier alleged that Uddhav Thackeray was ready for talks with them but Raut “derailed” the plan.

Now after being under the ED scanner for months and refusing the appear for questions, Raut is arrested. Uddhav, who is already losing support, now finds himself without his main man.

#WATCH | Mumbai: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut being taken by ED officials along with them after he was detained in connection with Patra Chawl land scam case from his residence pic.twitter.com/VtjjuQJhxM

— ANI (@ANI) July 31, 2022

However, Raut is not the one who can be silenced easily. Shortly before his arrest, Raut remained defiant. “They (ED) are going to arrest me. I am going to be arrested, Raut told reporters outside the ED office after he was brought there from his Bhandup residence.”

“Jhukega nahi (Won’t bow down),” Raut said.

He has the support of the Uddhav faction and the Congress. The Sena has planned protests across the city. Now it remains to be seen if Raut can get out of this unscathed.

With inputs from agencies

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