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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Pak police registers case against unidentified gunmen for opening fire on LeT co-founder
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Lahore (PTI): Pakistan's Punjab Police on Friday registered a case against unidentified gunmen for opening fire on Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) co-founder Amir Hamza, who suffered bullet injuries in the attack in Lahore.
On Thursday, two unidentified gunmen riding on a bike opened fire on the vehicle of the private TV channel 24NewsHD TV, owned by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, on Peco Road in Lahore near the TV channel's office.
In the attack, Hamza suffered bullet injuries.
"The FIR has been registered against unidentified gunmen, but it is sealed forthwith," a senior police officer told PTI.
He said the intelligence agencies have taken over this case from the police, and they are currently investigating the matter.
The channel's religious programme host Justice (retd.) Nazir Ahmed Ghazi and Hamza were in the vehicle when it was attacked. Hamza was shifted to a hospital for treatment.
Punjab police on Friday said that "upon receiving information about the incident, the SSP Operations immediately reached the scene and a high alert was imposed in the area. SSP Operations Tauqeer Naeem also met the affected individuals. Thankfully, all present in the vehicle remained safe during the firing."
It further said senior police officers of the Township and Chung, along with a heavy police contingent, were present at the scene.
"Police collected evidence from the site and initiated an investigation. Efforts to arrest the suspects are underway using CCTV footage and geo-fencing techniques. Search and sweep operations are being conducted at various locations, with scrutiny of suspicious individuals ongoing," police said.
It added that those involved in the incident will be traced and arrested soon.
The police sources said that Hamza has been shifted to his residence in Jauhar Town, Lahore, where police and agency personnel met him.
The leadership of the Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML), a political front of Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed's banned Jamat-ud-Dawah (JuD), including Hafiz Saeed's son Hafiz Talha Saeed, also called on him.
TV host retired Justice Ghazi, who remained unhurt in the attack, remained a legal counsel for Hafiz Saeed, they said.
The PMML has strongly condemned the attack on Hamza and demanded that those involved in the incident be arrested immediately.
Hamza is regarded as LeT's second most important leader after its chief Hafiz Saeed, who has been in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat Jail since 2019 after getting convicted for several years in terror financing cases.
Hamza has been designated as a terrorist by the US. In the past, he served as the head of LeT's "special campaigns" department.
In 2018, Hamza formed a fundraising group for the LeT following a ban on the JuD and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation by the Pakistani government.
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