ast 12 of the 40 rebel Sena MLAs have launched

t least 12 of the 40 rebel Sena MLAs have launched a frontal attack on Raut for his statements against them, with some claiming that he is on a mission to “finish the party in association with the NCP”. After the rebellion, Raut had resorted to name-calling and invectives to hit out at those who sided with Shinde.

oup, where he did a series of investigative stories on Mumbai’s underworld.

While in his thirties, in 1991, he was hand-picked by Sena founder Bal Thackeray and made Executive Editor of ‘Saamana’. It was here that developed a close relationship with Bal Thackeray and subsequently with Uddhav and Raj Th

Objecting to his choice of words, Deepak Kesarkar, the spokesperson for the Shinde camp, had said, “He is shooting his mouth off and damaging the party. No party should have a spokesperson like Sanjay Raut. He is on a mission to finish the party. All the MLAs are upset with his statements and more are joining us.”

ng to these allegations, Raut had said that the rebels were simply trying to justify their action. “Initially they said they rebelled for the cause of Hindutva, then they said there was an issue of funds, then they said NCP was harassing them and now they are saying it’s because of me. I think they should first sit together and decide one reason and tell us that.”

Raut, whose family hails from Alibaug in Raigad district of Maharashtra, grew up in Dadar in Mumbai, to where his father, also a Sainik, moved.

Raut’s sharp tongue has landed him in controversies in the past, including when he allegedly used unparliamentary language on camera against actress Kangana Ranavat, and BJP leader Kirit Somaiya.

Last month, Raut was under the ED scanner in an alleged land scam that saw him being questioned for 10 hours.

Raut started his career as a reporter in 1980 with the Mumbai-based ‘Marmik’, a Marathi weekly. In 1981, he joined the editorial b