Sanjay Raut targets BJP over Mehbooba Mufti's comments on Kashmir
Mumbai (PTI): A day after Mehbooba Mufti remarked that peace would be elusive in Kashmir until the Centre holds dialogue with Pakistan and people of Jammu and Kashmir, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said the PDP chief could make such comments as the BJP had given people like her strength by forming government with her party in the erstwhile state.
Talking to reporters, Raut said the Mufti-led People's Democratic Party (PDP) was a friend of the BJP at some point of time. The PDP has been pro-Pakistan and sympathises with terrorists right from the beginning, he claimed.
Notably, the PDP and BJP had come together to form a government in Jammu and Kashmir in 2015. The alliance broke in June 2018.
Mufti on Saturday reiterated her call to the BJP-led government at the Centre for a dialogue with Pakistan and the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Raut said Mufti had supported Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and still, the BJP had formed a government by forming an alliance with her party in Jammu and Kashmir.
Now, the same Mehbooba Mufti wants dialogue with Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir issue. This is a sin of the BJP," Raut alleged.
The BJP gave strength to such people by sharing power with them...Hence, the BJP is responsible for what Mehbooba Mufti is saying, he said.
The Rajya Sabha member further said whatever is the BJP's view on the issue now, the Shiv Sena had and will always oppose the PDP's ideology.
Referring to Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil's recent comment that Prime Minister Narendra Modi sleeps for only two hours and works for 22 hours everyday, Raut claimed it was "height of sycophancy"
The prime minister has lost even his two-hour sleep hearing Patil's comments, he quipped.
Raut sarcastically said that according to BJP leaders like Patil, only Modi works hard and no other leader in the world, including US President Joe Biden, his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky.
Sycophants had been there previously too. Even Mahatma Gandhi had sycophants. Sardar Patel too had sycophants. But we never saw such sycophants earlier this is the height of sycophancy, the Shiv Sena leader said.
Raut made similar comments in his weekly column 'Rokhthok' in the Shiv Sena's mouthpiece 'Saamana'.
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Paper leak mafia thriving under BJP's double-engine governments: Bhagwant Mann
Shimla (PTI): Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday slammed the Centre over the alleged NEET paper leak and said that such incidents are surfacing in regions governed by the BJP's 'double-engine' and 'triple-engine' governments.
He said the leak and cancellation of the National Eligibility cum Entrance test (NEET) 2026 examination is a major failure on the part of the Union government.
"This is not the first time that a paper leak has happened. Such incidents have surfaced in 2017, 2021, 2024, and now even in 2026 and every time, a CBI inquiry is initiated, arrests are made, yet after a short while, the accused are released on bail," he said.
Mann, who arrived at the Dharamshala Cricket Stadium to boost the morale of the Punjab Kings team ahead of their upcoming IPL match, told the media that lakhs of students toil day and night, harbouring dreams of transforming their families' fortunes, but when exams are cancelled due to paper leaks, these students are left heartbroken.
The NEET 2026 paper held on May 3 was cancelled on May 12 after reports of a paper leak in Rajasthan.
He said that the paper leak mafia is predominantly surfacing in regions governed by the BJP's 'double-engine' and 'triple-engine' governments. "Paper leaked, dreams shattered, the country's administrative system is unable to conduct even a single examination properly", he added.
Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mann said that while Modi imposes various restrictions on the public, he himself continues to embark on foreign tours.
He asserted that the public deserves to know the country's true economic situation.
"The prime minister must disclose the current status of the country's oil reserves, the extent of our gold reserves, and fundamentally why restrictions are being imposed on every single commodity", he said.
No other nation has imposed such restrictions and the ongoing war is being used as a pretext, even though the country's economy is already in a precarious state, Mann added.
Regarding the ongoing campaign against drugs in Punjab, Mann said that the state government is continuously taking action against drug traffickers and asserted that a large number of traffickers are being sent to jail and that Punjab will soon move towards becoming drug-free.
Speaking about the upcoming IPL match between Punjab Kings and Mumbai Indians to be held in Dharamshala, Mann said that he also holds the portfolio of Punjab's sports minister and has arrived in Dharamshala to cheer the team.
