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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

SS MP threatens to ‘bomb’ political opponents

Journalists staged a protest outside Balasaheb Bhavan against Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Dina Patil, condemning his alleged remarks against members of the media. Pic: Bhushan Koyande Mumbai: Mumbai North-East MP Sanjay Dina-Patil – who recently defected to the ruling ally Shiv Sena apparently went haywire on Thursday, hurling bomb threats at political opponents, spitting expletives at protestors, warning jounos of assault and warning anybody “to do whatever you can”, sparking a massive political...

SS MP threatens to ‘bomb’ political opponents

Journalists staged a protest outside Balasaheb Bhavan against Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Dina Patil, condemning his alleged remarks against members of the media. Pic: Bhushan Koyande Mumbai: Mumbai North-East MP Sanjay Dina-Patil – who recently defected to the ruling ally Shiv Sena apparently went haywire on Thursday, hurling bomb threats at political opponents, spitting expletives at protestors, warning jounos of assault and warning anybody “to do whatever you can”, sparking a massive political furore. Elected on a Shiv Sena (UBT) ticket, Dina-Patil lost his temper when he was questioned on his daughter and SS (UBT) Municipal Corporator Rajool Patil who went to meet ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray to express her allegiance despite her father’s defection to the Shiv Sena led by Deputy CM Eknath Shinde. Instead of replying, Dina-Patil, reported to be short-tempered, blew his top and reacted aggressively with abuses: “Record this on camera… I have spoken to you for 2 minutes, I respect you, you should do the same… Don’t mess with me. If you return here, I will thrash and send you back. I am saying this in front of the police, you do whatever you want.” Just a couple of days ago, Dina-Patil had threatened SS (UBT) workers protesting against him. “Anybody who tries to cross my path, I will send them to the crematorium or the hospital. We have committed five murders in the past. If you protest against me, I will throw bombs on you and enter your house to hammer you.” As these threats and unparliamentary language stoked a massive political row, SS (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut shot off a letter to Mumbai Commissioner of Police Deven Bharti, demanding that the police probe all the statements of Dina-Patil and ‘book him for murder’. On the alleged bomb threats, Raut said if Dina-Patil had acquired the explosives from some terrorist organisation, he should be arrested under the dreaded Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, dealing with terrorism, terming it as a matter of national security. Political Explosion The matter escalated into a full-fledged political brawl with Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders like Congress’ Nana Patole, Vijay Wadettiwar; SS (UBT)’s Aditya Thackeray, Sunil Raut, Sushma Andhare; Nationalist Congress Party (SP)’s Supriya Sule, Dr. Jitendra Awhad, Jayant R. Patil, and many more, attacking Dina-Patil and demanding that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis must act in the matter. Aditya challenged Dina-Patil to instantly quit as MP, recontest in the name of Shinde or PM Narendra Modi and then see the outcome. Andhare said till the MPs were with SS (UBT), they were cultured but after walking over to the Shiv Sena, they have lost all their etiquettes or fear of the laws. Faced with an embarrassing backlash, Bharatiya Janata Party’s Chandrashekhar Bawankule and Shiv Sena’s Omprakash Babarao alias Bachhu Kadu quickly tendered unconditional apologies to the media on behalf of Dina-Patil, while Minister Girish Mahajan attempted to equate the outburst with recent strong language used by Sanjay Raut, who had said that “Shinde has given birth to 6 traitors”. On Raut’s letter to the CoP, a defiant Dina-Patil declared: “Whatever I said, I did it openly. If the police feel any action is to be taken against me, I am ready to face the consequences.” He again slammed the media persons for "thrusting microphones at him”, going to the ‘other side’ (the MVA) and then returning to quiz him, prompting the TV Journalists Association and other media groups to protest and seek action against the belligerent MP. “Has the MP been provided (Y-Plus) security at public expense to threaten the media which is doing its duty or the political protesters?” asked an irate TV reporter. Dina-Patil launched a broadside against the MVA and dared those who dubbed him a ‘traitor’ to come to his constituency without any security. On the incident of five murders, he airily said: “It had happened before I was born”, but Raut retorted claiming to possess details of all those alleged killings. “I don’t need an entourage of 10 vehicles as I rule the hearts of the people. I have aligned myself with ‘real men’. Shinde Saheb has commended me for my stand,” he claimed. Fadnavis and Shinde commented briefly on the matter and later were closeted in a meeting to discuss the fallout of Dina-Patil’s utterances especially after the media launched strong protests in different parts of Mumbai.

The Rauts Riding High

Rauts

You can admire him or you can hate him but it’s hard to ignore Sanjay Raut. Always in the news for his scathing criticism of the opponents, especially the BJP, he has fashioned himself on the lines of Bal Thackeray—fiery editorials, brash language and controversial statements. His younger His younger brother Sunil entered the state legislative assembly in 2014 from Vikroli and is the Shiv Sena (UBT)’s candidate for the upcoming polls.


Sanjay dons multiple key roles in the Shiv Sena (UBT). The editor of Saamna, the party mouthpiece and a four term Rajya Sabha member, Sanjay is famous for his scathing attacks on the opposition—verbally and in writing. His easy-to-read style of writing as a journalist makes his editorials a hit among the Shiv Sainiks as well as non-Sena followers. He loves to be in the news with his sharp-tongued criticism of the BJP and is the most vocal and visible leader of the Shiv Sena (UBT). When the Thackerays do not want to respond, it is Sanjay who leads the charge.


He is supposed to have led the party’s bold decision to break away from the BJP in 2019 and try an experiment with the Congress and the NCP. He wanted his party boss, Uddhav Thackeray to become the chief minister. His warm relations with Sharad Pawar seem to have helped in the negotiations and the first MVA government was formed. While he may be credited with getting a Thackeray in the CM’s chair, he was also the man to be blamed with Eknath Shinde walked out with several legislators. They all blamed him for “ruining the party”, for surrounding Thackeray with only a close coterie. He’s even produced and written the biopic on Thackeray. Sanjay’s rise has been meteoric; he began his career in the circulation department of a leading media house and aspired to edit the paper some day. Inspired by Bal Thackeray’s editorials and his brand of fiery politics, he joined Saamna and the Shiv Sena and emulated the senior Thackeray’s style.


Sanjay has often courted controversy often for his politically incorrect and inflammatory statements. In the past, he has demanded that the voting rights for Muslims should be suspended for a period of time to avoid the community’s misuse as a ‘vote-bank’. In 2022, he served a prison term for his alleged role in the ‘Patra Chawl’ scam where he is accused of having taking kickbacks from Pravin Raut, the main accused in the Rs 60,000 crore scam. After Shinde split the Sena, Raut was seen on television frequently accusing the MLAs of being ‘gaddars’ and make unfavourable remarks on the people who left.

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