Maha: Raut Writes to UN, Urges it to Declare June 20 as ‘World Traitors Day’

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut has written to the United Nations, urging it to declare 20 June as “International Traitors Day” on the occasion of the “abandonment” of his party chief Uddhav Thackeray by 40 Shiv Sena MLAs, including Chief Minister of Maharashtra Eknath Shinde.

In a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Raut said that on June 20 (last year), a group of 40 Shiv Sena lawmakers broke away from their party after “instigation” by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

In the speech, Raut said, “Every one of them is said to have taken Rs 50 crore for defection,” a claim denied by the lawmakers.

The letter, dated June 19, was posted to Twitter on Tuesday.

“The 40 MLAs who challenged us were led by prominent legislator Eknath Shinde (who is now the CM of Maharashtra). Along with them, we left 10 independents who support Maha Vikas Agadi’s government.”

He said the operation began on June 20 when Shinde and others left Mumbai for neighboring Gujarat state.

“They have abandoned Udhav Thackeray who was a sickly man and underwent two major surgeries on November 12 and November 19, 2021,” Raut said.

In the letter, he said, every one of them benefited from Thackeray’s disease.

“I implore you to make June 20th the International Day of Traitors just as June 21st is celebrated as the International Day of Yoga. This must be done so that the world will remember the traitors.

The SLA-39 rebellion led by Shinde led to the collapse of the Maha Vikas Agade government led by Thackeray last year. While it also split the 57-year-old party, the Election Commission of India later assigned the name Shiv Sena and the bow-and-arrow symbol to the Shinde camp.

Separately, the Shiv Sena Party (UBT) workers on Tuesday also celebrated June 20 ‘International Traitors Day’ in different parts of the state.

(This story was not edited by the News18 staff and was published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)