Questioning the very decision to hold the Assembly elections in Bihar in the midst of Coronavirus crisis, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Friday charged that the ruling JD(U) and BJP would make Sushant Singh Rajput as the main issue in the elections.
Talking to media persons here, Raut took serious exception to holding the Bihar Assembly elections at a time when the country was still to tide over the Coronavirus crisis.
“Such has been the gravity of the situation that the Assembly and Parliament sessions have had to be curtailed. So far a minister and three MPs have died so far. That being the case, why is the state Assembly poll being held in Bihar?,” Raut asked.
“I have no objection whatsoever for the conduct of elections. But, is this right to hold elections?,” Raut said.
Raut charged that the ruling JD(U)-BJP alliance would go whole hog to cash in on the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, who hails from Bihar. “ I am told that JD(U) has printed posters of Sushant Singh Rajput in a big way for the elections. The JD(U) has made Sushant death probe an issue with a clear eye on the elections,” Raut said.
“It was a long-planned drama. The Bihar government does not have any developmental or governance issues to talk about in the elections. No wonder, the JF(U) has started campaigning with posters of Sushant. Hence, Sushant and the drugs matters relating to the incident are blown out of proportion,” Raut said.
Wondering as to what had happened to the CBI probe into Sushant’s death, Raut said: “The NCB is handling the drugs case. I would like to know as to what has happened to the CBI probe in the Sushant case, now that the former Bihar DPG Gupteshwar Pandey quit IPS to contest the state polls”.
When his attention was drawn to the proposed film city in Uttar Pradesh, Raut said: “It’s a welcome development and the entertainment industry can create huge employment opportunities”. He, however, dismissed speculation that a film city in UP would reduce the importance of the Bollywood capital of Mumbai.
Replying to a question, Rau6t said: “Nobody is going to leave Maharashtra and go to UP… People will all remain here. Mumbai’s film industry has been set up with blood, sweat and tears and it can never lose its importance… Merely by shifting the film city or a few government departments cannot impact the significance of Mumbai’’.
Raut had a dig at the Centre for its failure to set up a film city in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370.
“After the abrogation of Article 370 by Home Minister Amit Shah, why didn’t the government think of setting up a filmcity even in the Kashmir valley (Kashmir ki wadiyon me)?. Such a film city would have brought a lot of business to Jammu and Kashmir,” the Sena leader said.