Raut is one of the architects of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, a coalition of the Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress that has been in power in Maharashtra since 2019. A close confidant of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Raut recently came under the Enforcement Directorate’s scanner. The ED has attached his properties, including the flat where he lives in Mumbai. Not one to feel afraid, Raut continues to take on the BJP.
When not busy with politics, Raut can be found at the office of Saamana, writing editorials and going through pages as they are being made. In an exclusive interview with THE WEEK, he spoke on a variety of issues, including the allegations against him and Thackeray. Excerpts:
Q/ The MVA government is completing two and a half years. The BJP keeps saying that the government will collapse because of internal clashes, but nothing of that sort has happened. Who should be given credit for forming this unlikely alliance?
A/ The credit goes to BJP leaders in Maharashtra, and their ego and arrogance. [BJP president] Amit Shah and Uddhav Thackeray had decided [before the 2019 assembly polls] that theirs will be an equal distribution of power. But during seat-sharing talks, Sena got fewer seats than it deserved. Then there were efforts to defeat Sena candidates in various constituencies. Despite that, we won 56 seats. The BJP leaders’ attitude was, ‘We will manage them (the Sena) easily; they will have to bow to our wishes; where will they go?’
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 24, 2022 من THE WEEK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 24, 2022 من THE WEEK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
What Will It Take To Clean Up Delhi Air?
IT IS ASKED, year after year, why Delhi’s air remains unbreathable despite several interventions to reduce pollution.
Trump and the crisis of liberalism
Although Donald Trump's election to a non-consecutive second term to the US presidency is not unprecedented—Grover Cleveland had done it in 1893—it is nevertheless a watershed moment.
Men eye the woman's purse
A couple of months ago, I chanced upon a young 20-something man at my gym walking out with a women’s sling bag.
When trees hold hands
A filmmaker explores the human-nature connect through the living root bridges
Ms Gee & Gen Z
The vibrant Anuja Chauhan and her daughter Nayantara on the generational gap in romance writing
Vikram Seth-a suitable man
Our golden boy of literature was the star attraction at the recent Shillong Literary Festival in mysterious Meghalaya.
Superman bites the dust
When my granddaughter Kim was about three, I often took her to play in a nearby park.
OLD MAN AND THE SEA
Meet G. Govinda Menon, the 102-year-old engineer who had a key role in surveying the Vizhinjam coast in the 1940s, assessing its potential for an international port
Managing volatility: smarter equity choices in uncertain markets
THE INDIAN STOCK MARKET has delivered a strong 11 per cent CAGR over the past decade, with positive returns for eight straight years.
Investing in actively managed low-volatility portfolios keeps risks at bay
AFTER A ROARING bull market over the past year, equity markets in the recent months have gone into a correction mode as FIIs go on a selling spree. Volatility has risen and investment returns are hurt.
