Sanjay Raut: ‘Premature and misplaced’: Sanjay Raut writes to Trump over Bengal win message to PM Modi; BJP hits back | India News
New Delhi: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday criticized US President Donald Trump’s comments congratulating the BJP’s West Bengal election victory as “premature and wrong”, insisting that state elections are “an internal matter of India’s federal democracy”.In a post x-tagging Trump, Raut said “any external support seems premature and misplaced” and urged the US president to take a “more informed and balanced approach” to the election.“As a Member of Parliament of India, I am writing in response to your report congratulating Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the results of the West Bengal assembly elections. These are state-level elections – an internal matter of India’s federal democracy,” Raut said.The Rajya Sabha MP also alleged that the West Bengal elections were conducted in an atmosphere of “fear, intimidation and systematic pressure”. He alleged that there was a “wide perception” that the Election Commission of India did not function impartially and that its functioning appeared to favor the BJP, raising questions about “institutional impartiality”.“There are complaints about the massive deployment of central forces, which many believe has created coercion rather than trust. Senior leaders including Mamata BanerjeeThe public has raised concerns about the fairness of the process,” he wrote.“Democracy is not just about elections – it is about ensuring they are free, fair and credible. When serious allegations arise, they are scrutinised, not celebrated,” added Raut.Earlier this week, the BJP won more than two-thirds majority in the West Bengal assembly elections, ending Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s 15-year rule. The party also retained power in Assam for a third term. A White House spokesperson on Tuesday said Trump congratulated Modi on the BJP’s “historic and decisive” victory.Reacting sharply to Raut’s recent comments, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala called Raut the “joker of Indian politics” and accused opposition leaders of trying to tarnish India’s image globally.“Sanjay Raut is the joker of Indian politics. He and Rahul Gandhi have taken ‘supari’ to tarnish India’s image for domestic political petty fights and have pitted the country against Modi,” Poonawala said in a video post on X.He added that Indian democracy was being “appreciated across the world”, but opposition leaders were spreading “false narratives” about the electoral process.
