Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP and official spokesperson Sanjay Raut lambasted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday, even as he dubbed ‘Operation Sindoor’ against Pakistan as “a failure” and called for Shah to resign after taking responsibility for the Pahalgam terror attack.

Raut’s statements came a day after Shah stated in Nanded on Monday that if the late Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray had been alive, he would have hugged Modi for ‘Operation Sindoor’.

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“(Veer)Savarkar spoke about Akhand Bharat, but our armed forces were asked to stop heeding the orders of (United States) President Donald Trump,” Raut said.

“As I have said earlier, Operation Sindoor was a failure. However, in the interests of the nation, we opposition members are not speaking about it. Why was Operation Sindoor even needed in the first place? It was because terrorists removed the sindoor (vermilion) from the forehead of our mothers, sisters and daughters,” he said, holding Shah responsible for the Pahalgam terrorist attack.

“Why did Pahalgam happen? It was solely because of Amit Shah, who must resign. In fact, Modi should have sought his resignation since he has proved unsuccessful as a home minister,” Raut said.

“Why have the terrorists who killed tourists in Pahalgam never been caught? Where are they? Where have you hidden the terrorists? In Gujarat? In Dahod? Modi was in Dahod yesterday (Monday), where he was roaring from the place where (Mughal emperor) Aurangzeb was born,” Raut said.

Raut demanded the resignation of Shah as well as a special session of the Parliament to discuss the Pahalgam teror attack and ‘Operation Sindoor’.

“Shah is trying to teach us. He is travelling across Maharashtra. In Nanded, he visited the home of ‘Adarsh-fame’ Ashok Chavan and had dinner,” Raut said, referring to the Adarsh scam due to which former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan had to resign, leave the Congress and join the BJP, after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) registered a money laundering case against him.

“They are targeting us. The BJP split up the Shiv Sena because Uddhav Thackeray did not fall at their feet,” Raut said.

“They were in Nanded yesterday (Monday), when Mumbai was sinking because of the rains. Who is in charge of Mumbai’s administration since there is no elected body? It is (Deputy Chief Minister) Eknath Shinde who is the Urban Development Minister,” Raut said.

“The BJP has been in power at the Centre for 11 years, and they ruled Maharashtra for three and a half years. Yet, for anything and everything, they keep blaming Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Dr Manmohan Singh,” Raut said.

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah presented the first Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj Rajya Prerana Geet Puraskar award on Tuesday to the patriotic Marathi song, “Anadi Mee, Anant Mee”, written by the late Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.

Ranjit Savarkar, the grandson of the late Hindutva ideologue, accepted the award on behalf of the Swatantryaveer Savarkar Foundation.

The award ceremony was held at the Maharashtra Chief Minister’s official residence, Varsha, in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

Soon after presenting the award, Shah left for Delhi, unexpectedly cancelling his originally scheduled special lecture on occasion of the 60th death anniversary of Savarkar, at the University of Mumbai’s Sir Cowasji Jehangir Hall.