MumbaiShiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut on Thursday attacked the Maharashtra government and alleged that the state was being run like an underworld, similar to the one used to operate in Mumbai. Raut, a key Thackeray aide, told reporters here that criminals and the corrupt were being protected and “the chief minister and the deputy chief minister were running their own gangs”.

Raut alleged, “This (Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis regime) is not a government. The state is being run like an underworld, as it used to operate from Thane and Mumbai. The Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister are running their own gangs.” The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to entertain a plea by 14 political parties alleging arbitrary use of central agencies against the opposition.

On the question related to this, Raut said that the way the Bharatiya Janata Party is celebrating after the order of the apex court, it shows their happiness. he/she claimed, “ED (Enforcement Directorate) and CBI are being misused against political opponents. Why no action is being taken against those who get cleaned in BJP’s ‘washing machine’.” The “washing machine” reference is often made by detractors of the BJP, who claim that when leaders of opposition parties facing probe by central agencies join the BJP, the probe against them is either dropped Or they are given a clean chit.