Raut says he has no objection to Chhath Puja, only to the politics being played in its name

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut visited Tilak Bhavan in Mumbai on Saturday and spoke to the media on several contentious issues in the state. Asked why he had come to Tilak Bhavan, Raut said a programme on Pandit Nehru had been organised, so he should come. He said he had been there before, with Vilasrao Deshmukh and also when Pratap Rao Bhosale became state president. Raut said there was nothing to raise eyebrows about in this. He said great people had lived in this soil and in this building. He had been invited today, so he came.

On the alleged phone tapping of Rahul Gandhi, Raut said that was what could be expected under the rule of Modi and Shah. He said all those who had tapped phones, whether Netanyahu or Nixon, were pushed out of politics and lost. Raut said Modi's politics had been eaten away from within. In his words, power was not on its way out, their power was already gone. On the autobiography of senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, MP Raut said she had written her experiences in the book.

On the controversy over Chhath Puja, Raut said there was no opposition to the festival. Chhath Puja had been held in Mumbai for so many years, he said, and asked who had opposed it. According to Raut, the objection was to the politics being played in its name. He said songs were being played on railway platforms under its cover. Raut said demands were now being raised that the same should be allowed during other festivals.

Meanwhile, the MNS has said that Chhath Puja events at Banganga and Ulhasnagar are causing water pollution. The MNS said the stand the administration takes towards Marathi people during Ganesh Utsav and Navratri should also be taken towards the festivals of people from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.