New Delhi: The recent statement of Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Indira Gandhi meeting gangster Karim Lala has triggered debates across the nation, especially in the political optics.
During an interview with a media group in Pune, Raut claimed that "Indira Gandhi used to meet Karim Lala in Pydhonie (in south Mumbai)."
Karim Lala was one of the three top underworld dons of Mumbai for over two decades, from the sixties to the early eighties.
However, Raut later said that if his statement claiming that former prime minister Indira Gandhi used to meet yesteryear don Karim Lala has affected the image of the former prime minister then he withdraws from his statement.
Speaking on the issue, BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy told ETV Bharat, "I'm not going to comment on the precision of Sanjay Raut's statement, but in 1980, when I was in Lok Sabha, the matter of Indira Gandhi's relationship with the underworld had come up and I had participated in the discussion. It was not on Karim Lala but the Galadari brothers. There were many cases filed against them and Indira Gandhi withdrew all the cases."
"Since Shiv Sena is in power in Maharashtra in a coalition government with Congress and NCP, Sanjay Raut should have known the consequences for making such a controversial statement. He could have refrained from making such a remark," added BJP leader.
A day after the Indira Gandhi-Karim Lala controversy came up, a Congress leader added a fresh angle by alleging that BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis had met with underworld don when he was CM.
Commenting on the aforesaid discourse, Swamy said that he is not aware of the facts and therefore one should seek clarification from the source itself.
"...but such discussion will not provide any solution. The blame game will not justify anyone's crime and the one who are making allegations should provide pieces of evidence as well," remarked Swamy.
Such claims have once again brought up the concern about the close links between the underworld and the politicians in the country.
To this Rajya Sabha MP said that Home Secretary N N Vohra in 1990s had submitted a report on the order of the Supreme Court which was the first official expose of the close relations between the criminals and the politicians.
"The report was then made confidential and no proceedings took place thereafter," said Swamy.
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