Devendra Fadnavis targeting Sanjay Shirsat again? Alleged Rs 4,500 crore CIDCO land scam probe strains Mahayuti alliance
With local body elections on the horizon, this has forcibly opened up the ruling Mahayuti alliance to scrutiny, adding to its alleged internal issues
With local body elections on the horizon, this has forcibly opened up the ruling Mahayuti alliance to scrutiny, adding to its alleged internal issues
With local body elections on the horizon, this has forcibly opened up the ruling Mahayuti alliance to scrutiny, adding to its alleged internal issues
With local body elections on the horizon, this has forcibly opened up the ruling Mahayuti alliance to scrutiny, adding to its alleged internal issues
The Shinde-led faction, one part of Maharashtra's ruling Mahayuti alliance, has come under fire after the state government launched a high-level probe into the alleged Rs 4,500 crore land scam, directly targeting Social Justice Minister Sanjay Shirsat.
This comes months after NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar Shirsat alleged that Shirsat had illegally handed over 15 acres of a prime land plot in Navi Mumbai to the Yashwant Biwalkar family during his tenure as the chairman of City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) in the previous Eknath Shinde-led government.
Pawar had alleged that at the time of the allotment, the land had been part of a Supreme Court case, which had placed it under a stay.
Following allegations of inaction, the Devendra Fadnavis-led government on Thursday launched a six-member committee headed by the Konkan Divisional Commissioner to investigate the scam with fresh eyes.
With local body elections on the horizon, this has forcibly opened up the ruling Mahayuti alliance to scrutiny, adding to its alleged internal issues—because Shirsat is a close aide of Deputy CM Eknath Shinde.
"The Bivalkar family’s proposal was rejected for years on account of every law, rule and judgement. But in the first meeting after becoming the CIDCO chairman Sanjay Shirsat set aside all the rules," Pawar had alleged, demanding Shirsat's resignation.
He had also alleged that the land had originally been allocated for about 10,000 affordable houses for the poor.
Meanwhile, despite Union Home Minister Amit Shah's intervention, constant defections between BJP and the Shiv Sena also continues to fracture the ruling alliance, ahead of the December 3 elections.
In that regard, Shirsat, who is also the Guardian Minister for Sambhajinagar, has indicated that the Shiv Sena would not back down if the BJP did not stop "luring" its leaders, or else there was "no point in contesting the elections as the Mahayuti".
(More details are awaited.)