Former Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam came down heavily on the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) on Monday saying the "kingpin" of the Covid19 Khichdi scam was party spokesperson Sanjay Raut alleging that he took money in the name of his daughter, brother, and partner.
Nirupam further alleged that Raut took bribes through cheques in the name of her daughter Vidhita Sanjay Raut, who is innocent and unaware of these things.
The former Congress leader made the allegations as Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate from Mumbai North West seat for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, Amol Kirtikar appeared before the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the matter.
"Today is April 8 and Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate from North-West Mumbai (Amol Kirtikar), 'Khichdi Chor' has been called by the ED. 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," Nirupam said in a press conference.
"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..," he said.
"In this scam, he has taken money in the name of his daughter, brother and partner...He has taken bribes through cheques in the name of her daughter Vidhita Sanjay Raut, who herself is innocent and unaware of these things...," Raut added.
Shiv Sena(UBT) Hits Back
Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Anand Dubey slammed Nirupam for his charges against Raut saying he has learntthe culture of BJP too soon.
"...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," Dubey said.
"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. I appeal to the people of Mumbai not to get into these rumours," he added.
"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," said the party spokesperson.