BJP must avoid Congress' mistakes to maintain 'party with a difference' status: Nitin Gadkari
Panaji: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, addressing a Goa BJP executive meeting near Panaji, said that the BJP should maintain its status as a "party with a difference," as said by former Deputy PM L K Advani.
He warned against repeating the mistakes of the Congress, which led to their downfall.
Gadkari further said that the BJP was elected due to the Congress' failures and stressed the need for the party to avoid similar errors. He urged party members to see politics as a tool for social and economic reforms and to work towards creating a corruption-free nation.
Referring to politics in Maharashtra, Gadkari expressed his decision not to follow the trend of caste-based politics (jativadi rajkaran). He warned, "Jo karega jaat ki baat, usko padegi kaske laath (the one who will speak about caste will get a strong kick)," emphasizing that a person is known by their values, not their caste.
He advised Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to conduct a state-wide survey to evaluate government performance and identify any public grievances.
Addressing these issues efficiently over the next two years is crucial for the BJP's success in the 2027 state assembly elections. Gadkari emphasized the importance of performance audits for elected representatives and ministers, considering them more critical than financial audits.
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'Godman' Kharat held in 8th sexual exploitation case; court denies police remand, sends him to jail
Nashik (PTI): Police took custody of self-proclaimed godman-cum-astrologer Ashok Kharat in an eighth case related to sexual exploitation of women and produced him before a Nashik district court which sent him to jail till May 12 after rejecting the plea for his police remand on Thursday.
On April 29, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Nashik police in north Maharashtra filed a request application in the court demanding Kharat's custody in the eighth case.
After the court granted them the necessary permission, the SIT took custody of Kharat, who was in jail in connection with the seventh case of sexual exploitation registered against him.
The 'godman', named in a dozen FIRs related to rape and financial fraud, was produced before Chief Judicial Magistrate B N Ichpurani in the eighth case through video conferencing due to security reasons.
The eighth case related to Kharat allegedly sexually exploiting a woman who had approached him in search of solutions to her family problems, according to police.
During the hearing, the prosecution demanded police custody of the accused in the latest case.
However, the defence strongly opposed the demand and argued that the SIT was giving same reasons for police custody every time and there was no strong reason for accepting their plea.
The court accepted the argument put forth by the defence and remanded Kharat to judicial custody till May 12 in the eighth case.
The SIT will produce Kharat in the court on Friday again and seek his police custody in the ninth case. As the self-styled godman has been granted judicial custody in the eighth case, he will be sent to Nashik Road Central Jail and the SIT will take his custody from there.
Meanwhile, Kharat's judicial custody in the fourth case ended on Thursday. On April 18, the accused was remanded to judicial custody till April 30 in the fourth case of sexual exploitation of women.
In a related development, the SIT conducted a search at Kharat's office in the 'Canada Corner' area of Nashik city on Wednesday. A 'panchnama' (record of search and seizure proceedings) was conducted and the office was locked and sealed again.
Kharat, a well-heeled man with political connections, was arrested for the first time on March 18 after a woman alleged he had repeatedly raped her for three years.
He is accused of sexually exploiting several women by claiming to have divine powers and knowledge of black magic, and also committing large-scale financial fraud.
The SIT is conducting a probe into 12 cases of sexual exploitation and financial fraud registered against the astrologer in Nashik and Ahilyanagar districts.
