BJP MLA Suresh Dhas, who has been vehemently targeting minister Dhananjay Munde for the past few months over the murder of a sarpanch in Beed, on Friday said he met the NCP leader ‘to enquire about his health’.
The meeting between the minister and the BJP MLA, both from the Beed district, created a stir, with strong reactions coming in from various quarters.
Dhas has leveled serious allegations of close relations between Dhananjay Munde and the MCOCA detainee Valmik Karad with the political protection to his murky deals. His allegations involve an extortion racket in Beed district against the wind energy operators, for which a meeting was allegedly held at the official residence of Munde in Mumbai where Karad and the wind power plant operators were present.
Besides that he leveled sensational allegations in extortion racket in the contracts allocated for the disposal of fly ash from the Parli Thermal Power Station, a huge scam involving Rs5,000 crore in the crop insurance scheme when Munde was minister for the agriculture department, corruption in Parli Festival and properties amassed by Karad.
Before Suresh Dhas could clarify his position, the office of Dhananjay Munde had denied any such meeting had taken place. But, the state BJP chief and Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule laid bare the secret smashing defense of the minister. He told media persons that indeed a meeting happened where both Munde and Dhas were present and it lasted for over four and a half hours.
Bawankule’s statement queered pitch for Dhas and the BJP MLA conceded that he met the minister to inquire about his health. “I met him a day after Munde underwent a cataract surgery and it was purely a humanitarian gesture and the meeting lasted for just half an hour,” said the MLA. But, he denied a lengthy meeting as claimed by Bawankule.
Later in the evening, addressing the media, Dhas said two meetings with Munde happened; the first one was a fortnight ago and the second one took place 3-4 days back at the minister’s official residence. “Although I met the minister, I have not given up the cause and am still firm on getting the harshest punishment for the killers of Santosh Deshmukh. I have submitted a letter to Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar over the Rs73 crore bills claimed by the contractors from the government without doing any job,” he Dhas said.
Meanwhile, Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange slammed Dhas for meeting Munde. The murder of Santosh Deshmukh has defamed the state. Such brutality was never seen in the state. I expected that he (Dhas) would give justice in this case. I was not expecting betrayal so early, he said.
