Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut was booked in Delhi over allegedly objectionable remarks against female BJP members during a TV interview. The Rajya Sabha MP however dubbed it an “attempt to pressurise” him, contending that much worse had been said by BJP members against women leaders. 

“FIR registered against me for the use of word ch****a, that means stupid as per Hindi dictionaries. In spite of this, if a case is registered then it’s nothing but an attempt to pressurize me! By the way, some BJP leaders have used more objectionable words against women leaders, haven’t heard of such FIR against them,” he tweeted soon after being booked.

Questioning the fact that the FIR had been registered in Delhi, Raut also drew a parallel with the case filed after actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death.

The politician also retweeted a post shared by Maharashtra Congress leader Sachin Sawant to define the word used by Raut.

“Although I do not use this word, I am giving the same word and meaning in the innovative dictionary of Marathi writer and lexicographer late Shripad Joshi,” wrote Sawant. The attached photo emphasised that the word in question did indeed mean ‘stupid’.

The FIR against Raut was registered at Delhi’s Mandawali police station under Sections 509 and 500 of the IPC. According to officials, it was registered on the basis of a December 9 complaint by BJP National General Secretary Deepti Rawat Bhardwaj. Raut, she had alleged, made “shocking comments” against BJP workers during an interview that was aired by a Marathi news channel that day. She had also alleged that he issued threats against “the life and limb of BJP political workers” and used abusive language.