Sanjay Raut slams rebel Sena leaders; calls them ‘living corpses’

Amid the political crisis in Maharashtra, senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut took shots at the rebel leaders and called them living corpses, according to an Indian Express report.

"When they step out of Assam, they won't be alive at heart," said Raut, addressing a rally of Shiv Sena workers on Sunday. "They know what can happen in the fire that has been lit here now. The dead bodies of all these 40 MLAs will come to Mumbai (from Guwahati), we will directly send them to the mortuary for post-mortem."

Raut also compared the leaders with livestock. "There is a temple in Guwahati where buffaloes are sacrificed," he said. "These 40 buffaloes have gone there to be sacrificed."

When asked, Raut stood by his statement. "I will repeat it - those who stay in a party for 40 years and then run away, their souls are dead, they do not have anything left in them," he said. "These are the lines said by Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia. I didn't want to hurt anyone's sentiment, I just said the truth."

Raut's statement drew flak from the Opposition and the rebel leaders.

Read | Amid MVA crisis, ED summons Sanjay Raut over land scam

"He is insulting women in our families and it won't be tolerated," said rebel camp spokesperson Deepak Kesarkar, referring to Raut's words that the rebels had many fathers. "He is saying anything he wants and damaging the party. No party should have a spokesperson like Sanjay Raut. He is on a mission to finish the party. It is because of his statements that all the MLAs are angry and more are joining us."

"He has called us corpses," Kesarkar said. "He should remember that it was on our votes that he became an MP earlier this month. He has also called us animals. If we are animals and corpses, then he should have some self-esteem and resign as MP. He should contest the polls afresh. He needs the votes of only 41 MLAs, let's see from where he gets it. It's sad that a Rajya Sabha member is speaking like this. He is the chief spokesperson of the Shiv Sena. We are very much part of the Sena. On what basis are we being targeted by the Sena? We are challenging the decisions to disqualify our members and leader Eknath Shinde."

Raut later stressed that there was nothing wrong with what he said. "There is nothing controversial in my statement," he said. "One must understand my speech. What I said is that those MLAs who are in Guwahati are like living corpses, their souls are dead. What is a body worth when the soul is dead? These living corpses will come to Mumbai and we will send them to Vidhan Bhavan for post-mortem. This is what I said. What is wrong with it?"