Raut backs Raj, but defends CBI action against Chidambaram

A day after Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray threw his weight behind estranged cousin Raj Thackeray, facing ED probe in a money laundering case, party MP Sanjay Raut also came out in support of the MNS chief, but defended CBI's action against ex-Union minister P Chidambaram.

There was "ample evidence" against former finance minister Chidambaram, Raut claimed, adding that constantly dubbing the action of the investigating agencies' as "political vendetta" would demoralise them.

The senior Congress leader was arrested on Wednesday night by the CBI in the INX Media money laundering case.

"There has been ample evidence against Chidambaram, his son was already arrested in the same case. Chidambaram tried to evade arrest for sometime," Raut said.

"Constantly terming the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) action as political vendetta would demoralise the investigating officials of the department," he said.

However, Raut came out in support of Raj Thackeray, summoned by the ED in a case of alleged irregularities related to Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) loan to Kohinoor CTNL.

"Uddhav Thackeray already made it clear yesterday that nothing concrete will be found against Raj. As Uddhav has extended support to his brother, his entire family is behind Raj Thackeray," the Rajya Sabha member said.

"Let the investigation get over. Raj is cooperating with the ED, unlike P Chidambaram," he said.