Union Minister Pralhad Joshi's brother held for duping woman of Rs 2 cr
Bengaluru (PTI): The police on Saturday arrested Union Minister Pralhad Joshi's brother based on a cheating complaint lodged by a former JD(S) MLA's wife.
Gopal Joshi and a woman named Vijayalakshmi Joshi were booked by Basaveshwaranagar police on Thursday night. Gopal's son Ajay Joshi has also been named in the FIR.
The complaint was lodged by Sunita Chavan, wife of former Nagthan MLA Devavand Phool Singh Chavan, who lost the 2023 Assembly election.
She alleged that Gopal Joshi duped her of Rs two crore on the pretext of securing her family a BJP ticket to contest the May Lok Sabha elections. The complainant also alleged that Vijayalakshmi was introduced to her as Pralhad Joshi's sister.
However, the union minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines, clarified that he had no sister. He said he has only three brothers, one of whom died in a road accident in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar in 1984.
The minister had already clarified that he disowned his brother (Gopal Joshi) more than three decades ago, and said he had filed an affidavit in the court and also published a public notice saying that anyone claiming to be his brother, relatives or friends and indulging in any financial business will not be a binding on him.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
