Another Maharashtra Minister Faces Illicit Sex Charges

The mud-slinging against political opponents is not uncommon but in Maharashtra, it is reaching another level. At the receiving end in this case is senior minister Girish Mahajan from Jalgaon in north Maharashtra. The attacker is his former mentor and BJP boss Eknath Khadse, who is now in the Nationalist Congress party led by Sharad Pawar. Challenging Khadse to prove the charges, Mahajan has refuted the insinuations. Over the past few years, Mahajan has emerged as a confidant of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. He has turned the district saffron to the discomfiture of Khadse, who was then leader Gopinath Munde’s right hand. Hit by domestic tragedies, Khadse left the BJP some time ago to join Sharad Pawar. Even then, the BJP granted candidatures to his family members. But unsatisfied and angry with Fadnavis for various reasons, Khadse walked out of the party. However, hurt by successive setbacks suffered by the NCP, he desperately knocked on the BJP’s doors for readmission. However, his efforts have been thwarted. At the same time, Mahajan’s star has been rising. Unable to control his chagrin, Khadse has alleged that Mahajan has extra-marital ties with a senior woman IAS officer in the state. As evidence, he has quoted a journalist, who first made the allegation in a podcast. As the Fadnavis government is buffeted by the sordid deeds of sacked minister Dhananjay Munde, it will have to tread carefully while dealing with the serious charges against Mahajan. It is for the first time that the bureaucracy is made a target of such scandals.