Jinnah partitioned India once but BJP leaders are dividing country every day: Sanjay Raut

Muhammad Ali Jinnah had partitioned India only once to create Pakistan but BJP leaders are dividing the country every day by creating a rift between Hindus and Muslims through their statements, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut alleged on Tuesday.

Addressing a press conference in Nagpur during Shiv Sena's mass outreach programme in the Vidarbha region, Raut also slammed BJP for terming the Uddhav Thackeray-led party "Janab Sena".

"More than 22 crore Muslims are living in India and many of them have voted for BJP and Shiv Sena. Muhammad Ali Jinnah had partitioned India only once (to create Pakistan) but BJP leaders are partitioning India every day by creating a rift between Hindus and Muslims through their statements," Raut alleged.

Recently, senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis had taken a dig at the Uddhav Thackeray-led party after AIMIM MP Imtiyaz Jaleel proposed an alliance with Sena-led MVA, saying, "Will Sena and AIMIM come together? This cannot be ruled out. The Sena has started 'Azaan' competition and saying Janab Balasaheb Thackrey, hence their coming together cannot be ruled out".

Hitting back at BJP, Raut said the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has formed many organisations for Muslims such as Rashtriya Muslim Manch.

"Will BJP leaders change the name of the RSS to Rashtriya Muslim Sangh and of (RSS chief) Mohan Bhagwat to Janab Bhagwat then? he asked.

Responding to a query, Raut said asking the then home minister Anil Deshmukh to resign was a mistake of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government which will not be repeated in the case of Nawab Malik.

"Nawab Malik will never be asked to resign from the state cabinet," he said.

Deshmukh had stepped down last year following allegations of corruption levelled against him by the then Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh.

Malik was arrested last month by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case.

Both Deshmukh and Malik belong to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), one of the three constituents in the MVA government; the two other ruling parties are Shiv Sena and Congress.

He reiterated that the BJP was misusing Central agencies to malign the image of the Shiv Sena-led MVA government.

"The ED had conducted 23 raids during the rule of Congress-led UPA but staggering 23,000 raids were conducted in the last seven years of the Modi government. Maximum raids by Central agencies were conducted in Maharashtra and West Bengal," Raut alleged.

"Why are BJP-ruled states not under the scanner of these agencies?" he questioned.

He said Maharashtra Police are capable of investigating Central agencies.

"A large number of documents related to scams committed during the then Devendra Fadnavis government are with the MVA government," Raut claimed.