Shiv Sena bats for Rakesh Maria in Lalit Modi case
An editorial on Wednesday in the Shiv Sena mouthpiece 'Saamna', which has party president Uddhav Thackeray as the editor and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut as the executive editor, claimed that the controversy over Maria's meeting with controversial Lalit Modi in London was akin to "making a mountain out of a molehill".
Coming out in support of beleaguered Mumbai police commissioner Rakesh Maria, the Shiv Sena questioned why the BJP-led government was not backing him like in the case of Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj.
An editorial on Wednesday in the Shiv Sena mouthpiece 'Saamna', which has party president Uddhav Thackeray as the editor and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut as the executive editor, claimed that the controversy over Maria's meeting with controversial Lalit Modi in London was akin to "making a mountain out of a molehill".
The editorial said when Modi was the "king of IPL cricket", many politicians had their photographs published with him. It questioned whether action would be taken against them now.
The editorial said that chief minister Devendra Fadnavis needed to root out factionalism in the Mumbai police and added that Maria had done commendable work in strengthening law and order in in the city.
"Till these things stop, it is impossible to reform the state police force," the editorial said. "In the Lalit Modi case, the BJP is standing firmly by Vasundhara Raje and Sushma Swaraj and it has been made clear that regardless of the ruckus created by the Opposition, their posts are safe. Hence, do we need to tell the chief minister about the Centre's and BJP's stance in the Lalit Modi case? Then why shouldn't the same rule be applied to a brave officer like Rakesh Maria," it questioned.