Expelled Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam on Monday claimed that Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut is the ‘real kingpin’ of ‘Khichdi’ scam, this amid the Enforcement Directorate (ED) issuing summons to Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate from Mumbai North West Amol Kirtikar.
Kirtikar has been summoned in connection with a money laundering probe into alleged irregularities in distribution of khichdi during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“When I started working on this scam, I came to know that the ‘kingpin’ was someone else. The kingpin in this whole scam is Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson, Sanjay Raut…,” Nirupam, who was expelled for six years by the Congress, was quoted by ANI as saying.
Continuing his attack on Raut, the former MP said,”In this scam, he has taken money in the name of his daughter, brother and partner. There is a company called Sahyadri Refreshment where Rajiv Salunkhe and Sujit Patkar were involved, who were partners of Sanjay Raut. The company received a contract worth ₹6.37 lakh to supply khichdi during Covid.”
The ED has alleged that agents linked to some politicians used influence to ensure the BMC awarded khichdi contracts to their associates. The khichdi suppliers cheated the BMC by supplying less than the agreed quantity and after submitting inflated bills, it was alleged.
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“Sanjay Raut’s family and his friends took ₹1 crore as brokerage. ..He has taken bribes through cheques in the name of her daughter Vidhita Sanjay Raut, who herself is innocent and unaware of these things…,” Nirupam added.
On Kirtikar being summoned by the central agency, Nirupam said, “What ED does after the interrogation, I don’t know, but action must be taken against him. The entire people from the North-West district should know, how dishonest their possible candidate is.”
Uddhav’s Sena responds to Nirupam
Responding to Nirupam’s attack, Shiv Sena (UBT) accused the former Congressman of intentionally trying to malign the image of its candidate.
“He is intentionally trying to malign the image of our leaders like Amol Kirthikar and Sanjay Raut when the elections are going to be held on May 20 in Mumbai. He is raising a four-year-old issue, why have you been silent for this long?… When Congress expelled him and he was roaming for a ticket, he asked every party for this and when nothing seemed to be working, he is now conspiring to malign the image of Shiv Sena,” Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Anand Dubey told ANI.
“I appeal to the people of Mumbai not to get into these rumours. We aren’t afraid of ED and all put us in jail and we will come out on bail. Our leaders are facing this difficult situation. He has learned the culture of BJP too soon, the BJP is the only party that tries to malign people’s image by keeping the family forward,” he added.
(With PTI, ANI inputs)
