Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut criticised Maharashtra Home Minister and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for increasing his security cover, asking the reason for the increased security.

“Why is our Home Minister so scared, who wants to attack him? Is Israel or Libya going to attack him? Is there an attack going to happen to him? He should tell everyone about it,” he asked during a press conference.

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Fadnavis currently has ‘Z-plus’ security cover.

Sanjay Raut claimed that around 200 Force One commandos were in Nagpur for the protection of Fadnavis.

“The Home Minister of this state, who is a former Chief Minister (Devendra Fadnavis), has suddenly increased his security. The Home Minister gives security to others but he increased his own security. Suddenly we saw Force One commandos standing outside his house, 200 commandos standing in Nagpur,” Raut said.

He further said, the Director General of Police, Rashmi Shukla should at least give the reason for the increased security.

“Rashmi Shukla, who is the DG of BJP, at least she should tell us what the matter is,” he added.

Referring to her as a “DG of BJP,” Sanjay Raut has also claimed on Friday that a fair assembly election in Maharashtra cannot be conducted if Rashmi Shukla remains at the helm of the state police force.

Levelling serious allegations against her, he said that Shukla, in 2019 was “directly working with the BJP.”

“There is a very serious allegation against the state’s Director General of Police Rashmi Shukla. In 2019, when our government was being formed, this Director General of Police, who was directly working for the Bharatiya Janata Party, was tapping all our phones and giving full information to Devendra Fadnavis about what we were going to do,” Raut told reporters.

“Can we expect her to conduct fair elections? We have said that the reins of elections should not be given to her, and then the Election Commission said that they do not have the right (to transfer). How can this happen? At the same time, Jharkhand’s DGP was changed. Maharashtra’s election is being conducted based on police pressure,” he added.

Earlier on Thursday, Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole also wrote to Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, requesting the removal of Rashmi Shukla from her position.

In the letter, Patole accused DGP Shukla of displaying a “clear bias” against opposition parties in the state, including Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and NCP(SP). He alleged that, in the past 20 days, Maharashtra has witnessed numerous incidents of political violence targeting opposition leaders, with cases reportedly escalating.