MUMBAI, Nov. 1 -- "Sanjay Raut in his pre-Saamna days as a journalist used to criticise the Shiv Sena in his writing, and Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray did not like him." This was revealed by MNS chief Raj Thackeray at the release of Raut's new Marathi book 'Bodh Kirtan' on Saturday. The Thackeray cousins, Uddhav and Raj, were together for the function, two days after they shared a dais with chief minister Devendra Fadnavis for the release of a book by renowned cartoonist Prashant Kulkarni. Raj Thackeray said that he and Raut were friends much before the latter was hired to become editor of the Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamna. "I had suggested to Balasaheb that he hire Raut as Saamna editor but he (Raut) was often critical of the Sena," he said. "Balasaheb didn't like him." In 1992, Raut was working with Marathi magazine Lokprabha and wanted an interview with Balasaheb, who agreed reluctantly. "During the interview, Raut asked a few difficult questions and Balasaheb showered the choicest abuses on him," said Raj. "Raut printed the interview along with the abuses, and this impressed Balasaheb. He felt Raut had guts. Soon after that, he told me to ask Raut to meet Uddhav, and subsequently made him editor of Saamna." Both Uddhav and Raj were all praise for Raut, who is also a Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP and a vocal critic of prime minister Narendra Modi and the BJP regime. Uddhav recalled Raut's initial Saamna years, revealing that Bal Thackeray would summon him in anger if he was not happy with something in the newspaper. "When Raut spoke to him, he used to have no issues. It was I who had to face Balasaheb's anger," he quipped. In his speech, Raut said that he drew inspiration to write the book during his time in Arthur Road Jail from July 31, 2022 till November 9 that year in connection with a case filed against him by the Enforcement Directorate. He has written a book, 'Narakatala Swarg' on his experiences in jail. In a chapter of 'Bodh Kirtan', Raut has praised PM Narendra Modi for his speech at the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. "I loved his speech at the function, which I heard when I was in jail," he said. "It was delivered without a teleprompter and was not a scripted one. It was not political either. People felt I was praising Modi but I was reacting to the literary merit of his speech. Modi is not my personal enemy."...