Raut says Meenakshi Shinde, Rajendra Shinde will have to be detained after Diwali in Purnekar case

Former Thane mayor Meenakshi Shinde had organised a Diwali morning programme and had invited leaders of the Shinde faction. However, not a single leader of the faction, including Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, turned up. Speculation of various kinds has followed, and several meanings are being read into the faction leaders staying away from the event.

Talk has begun that Meenakshi Shinde has been left isolated in the Shinde Sena. There is also talk that she could be arrested after Diwali. Thackeray faction leader Sanjay Raut has reacted to this.

Speaking to the media, Raut said the police would have to take certain steps once Diwali is over and that preparations for it are under way. According to him, Meenakshi Shinde and Rajendra Shinde will have to be taken into custody after Diwali. Raut said that, according to his information, the police will have to arrest the real "supari" masterminds in the Purnekar case. He also said the involvement of these two in the case is plainly visible and that evidence has already been submitted.

Raut also issued a warning. He said that if the police did not accept the evidence and did not act, he would go to the High Court and the Supreme Court and compel action against the Police Commissioner. His statement has stirred political circles.

Meanwhile, a morcha over Gokul was taken out in Kolhapur today, led by Satej Patil. Raut commented on this as well. He said the Gokul morcha should go to Mantralaya, to Varsha and to Raj Bhavan. According to him, the verdict given by the people is being rejected and power is being handed to those who have lost, which is fatal to democracy. Raut said the Kolhapur morcha is important, but such a morcha should be taken only to Varsha, Raj Bhavan and Mantralaya.

Raut asked, "Which rules are they citing to us? If the Mahadik faction had won 13 seats, would you have taken this decision?" He said that in that case Devabhau would have been advising on principles and delivering sermons. He then asked whether it is democracy that, when Satej Patil's panel has won, four people are being inducted, and called this the disrobing of democracy.

He said farmers of the state should come to Mumbai. Just as the country had descended on Ramlila Maidan, people should turn out for Gokul in the same way. According to Raut, this is not a Gokul issue; it is a question of saving democracy.