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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