Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) leader Prakash Ambedkar said on Monday that he had warned MNS chief Raj Thackeray about the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) inquiry against him.
‘Politics of blackmail’
He said, “Around 10 days ago, I had sent a message to Mr. Thackeray via Bala Nandgaonkar that a notice will be issued to him soon, he should be prepared for it.” Mr. Ambedkar accused the BJP-led State government of practising the politics of blackmail and using the State machinery to target individuals. He said, “In politics, everyone knows each other’s weaknesses. So through deductive logic we can estimate the consequences for certain actions you take.”
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In the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls, Mr. Thackeray had campaigned openly against the BJP and had targeted both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then BJP chief Amit Shah in his election rallies. Mr. Ambedkar said, “After the current notice to Mr. Thackeray, it is very clear that this is the politics of blackmail. Congress leaders are also getting blackmailed and so are half of the leaders in the Nationalist Congress Party. The ones that remain are us, we don’t have any fear as we have nothing to hide.”
Pointing to the slew of defections in both the Congress and the NCP, Mr. Ambedkar said, “The others who were at the risk of getting notices have already left, the rest are in the process of leaving the parties.”