Mumbai: A day after Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil alleged that deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde had paid him ₹500 crore, the Shiv Sena opened a two-front counter — an inquiry into Jarange-Patil's own wealth and a defamation threat.
Speaking at the Shiv Sena's Dussehra rally, senior leader and former minister Ramdas Kadam called Jarange-Patil 'dishonest' and demanded a probe into his finances. 'Jarange, you spoke about Eknath Shinde and about ₹500 crore; if you try to ruin Eknath Shinde, this Maratha community will not step back,' Kadam said. He alleged the activist ate secretly in the bathroom during his fasts, and asked where his expensive cars and money had come from. 'Shinde Saheb, I request you, order an inquiry into him.'
Defending Shinde, Kadam said the deputy chief minister had given Marathas 10 per cent reservation. 'Eknath Shinde is the deity of Shiv Sainiks and of the Maratha community. If you speak against him, the community will not tolerate it.'
Jarange-Patil had, at his Narayangad Dussehra rally in Beed district on Tuesday, said Shinde told a senior BJP leader that he had paid the activist ₹500 crore during the reservation agitation two years ago. 'On the eighth day of my hunger strike at Antarwali Sarathi last month, some senior political leaders told me that Shinde had claimed to have paid money to me. I have evidence,' he said, challenging Shinde to address the matter at his own Dussehra rally.
He demanded that Shinde clarify whether the claim, that the money was routed through his MP son Shrikant Shinde, was false.
Shiv Sena politician Sanjay Lakhe Patil threatened to file a defamation suit seeking ₹1 in damages, and gave Jarange-Patil until Wednesday evening to name the BJP leader who, he said, had given him the information. 'Jarange-Patil is acting at the behest of someone within the BJP,' Lakhe Patil said in a video statement.
Kadam also challenged Jarange-Patil to reveal the name, adding that the allegation could be an attempt to drive a wedge between the BJP and the Shiv Sena.