Fadnavis, Mahajan behind denial of poll ticket to me: Senior BJP leader Eknath Khadse
Mumbai: Senior BJP leader Eknath Khadse has alleged that former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and party leader Girish Mahajan were behind denial of ticket to him in the state Assembly polls held last year.
Khadse, while speaking to Marathi news channel ABP Majha on Wednesday, also said that some people wanted to end his political career.
"I am told by the BJP's state core committee members that Devendra Fadnavis and Girish Mahajan had opposed issuing ticket to me from Muktainagar Assembly seat in Jalgaon district. They even opposed BJP central committee's willingness to give ticket to me," Khadse said.
"I was told about it by some core committee members on condition of anonymity," the former state minister claimed.
Khadse resigned as revenue minister in 2016 in the then BJP-led government over allegations of impropriety in a land deal. He was at that time the senior-most minister in the Fadnavis-led Cabinet.
He could never return to the Cabinet and was denied ticket by the BJP in the Assembly polls in October last year.
The saffron party, instead, gave the ticket to his daughter Rohini Khadse from Muktainagar. However, she lost to Shiv Sena rebel Chandrakant Patil.
"Going by all the developments that have happened so far, it seems like some people were against me and wanted to end my political career. The state BJP gave tickets to those who had no mass support, which is why we fared badly," Khadse further told the news channel.
"Senior BJP leaders from Maharashtra, such as Union minister Nitin Gadkari, were hardly invited for the poll campaign," he said.
Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil also got stuck in his own Assembly constituency, instead of campaigning for the party's candidates across the state, he said.
"On the contrary, only Devendra Fadnavis was campaigning across the state. The capability and influence of other senior leaders should have been utilised for the campaign," Khadse said.
The disgruntled leader last month said he had submitted "proof" against the leaders responsible for the defeat of the party nominees in north Maharashtra.
"I have all the proof with names of individuals who are responsible for BJP's electoral losses (in the region)," he said earlier.
He also demanded action against these leaders for the BJP's shrunken tally of 105 seats, as compared to 122 in 2014 in the 288-member Assembly.
Khadse has been trying to regain his position in the BJP since he was forced to resign as minister.
Apart from him, senior BJP leaders Vinod Tawde and Prakash Mehta from Mumbai, and Chandrashekhar Bawankule from east Maharashtra were also denied tickets in the Assembly polls.
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Delhi: Couple held for stealing cash, valuables from elderly people travelling in e-rickshaws
New Delhi (PTI): A couple has been arrested for allegedly stealing cash or valuables from elderly passengers travelling in e-rickshaws in west Delhi's Moti Nagar area, police said on Sunday.
The accused has been identified as Suresh (25) and his wife, the police said, adding that they were apprehended after an investigation into the theft of Rs 1 lakh from a 60-year-old passenger earlier this week.
According to the police, the complainant, a resident of Kirti Nagar, had hired an e-rickshaw from a showroom on Shivaji Marg on May 13.
The man was carrying a small bag containing Rs 1 lakh cash. After reaching his destination, he found that the bag had been torn and the cash was missing, they said.
An e-FIR was registered at Moti Nagar police station on May 14 and an investigation was launched. A team analysed CCTV footage from the route taken by the complainant and identified the e-rickshaw allegedly used in the crime.
"Using technical surveillance and local inputs, the accused couple was traced and apprehended," a senior police officer said.
During interrogation, the accused allegedly disclosed that they used to target elderly passengers travelling in e-rickshaws and steal cash and valuables from their bags during transit without raising suspicion.
Police recovered Rs 90,000 of the stolen amount from the possession of the accused along with the e-rickshaw used in the commission of the offence.
"The accused had no previous criminal involvement on record. Further investigation is underway to ascertain whether the couple was involved in other similar theft cases targeting passengers and senior citizens in different parts of the city," the police officer added.
