Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut on Monday wrote to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, demanding a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against BJP MLA Rahul Kul for alleged financial mismanagement and money laundering to the tune of ₹500 crore.
Mr. Kul, an MLA from the Daund Assembly segment in Pune district, has been accused by Mr. Raut of mismanaging finances of the Bhima cooperative sugar mill at Daund, which is owned by the BJP leader.
Speaking in Delhi, the Thackeray loyalist took a thinly-veiled jibe at the BJP governments at the Centre and the State, unleashing Central agencies against non-BJP leaders and political parties.
“Central agencies ought to probe all cases of corruption. It should not be selective nor should it be targeting only Opposition leaders while sparing ruling party members,” Mr. Raut said.
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His letter to Mr. Fadnavis comes at a time when the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is probing senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and former Minister Hasan Mushrif — an ally of the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction in the MVA — for financial irregularities and money laundering in Kolhapur.
Reacting to Mr. Raut’s letter, Mr. Kul denied the allegations against him as “baseless” and reeking of “political vendetta”.
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