In the aftermath of the Maharashtra assembly polls, BJP leader and newly elected MLA Suresh Dhas on Monday accused MLC colleagues Ranjitsinh Mohite-Patil and Pankaja Munde of betrayal and sabotaging the party’s efforts.
Satpute lost his Malshiras assembly seat to Uttamrao Jankar of the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) by a margin of 13,147 votes, while Suresh Dhas triumphed in Ashti, winning against independent candidate Bhimrao Anandrao Dhonde with a commanding lead of 77,975 votes.
Satpute alleged that Ranjitsinh Mohite-Patil used ‘half’ of the ₹113 crore allocated by deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis for Mohite-Patil’s sugar factory to undermine his election campaign.
“This is treachery. He (Mohite-Patil) used BJP’s resources to fund the opposition. My wife faced obstacles during campaign rallies, with tractors blocking her route. BJP workers were threatened and even attacked by his people,” claimed Satpute.
He also presented photographs to support his allegation that Mohite-Patil had ‘openly’ backed Uttamrao Jankar.
“How can the BJP tolerate this? He must be expelled immediately,” Satpute insisted after meeting chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy CMs Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar.
Meanwhile, Suresh Dhas hit out at senior party colleague and MLC Pankaja Munde.
“Pankajatai, I considered you like a sister, but what you did was unacceptable. You attended a rally in Shirur and criticised the BJP. Your personal assistants even encouraged people to vote for an independent candidate. Why would you betray your own party?” questioned Dhas.
“You’ve lost a good ally today. It’s time to change the people around you,” he said attacking Munde, a former state minister and daughter of BJP stalwart late Gopinath Munde.
The Mahayuti swept the polls to the 288-member assembly, with BJP bagging 132 seats, Shiv Sena getting 57 and 41 going into the kitty of the NCP.
The opposition Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) of Sharad Pawar managed to win just 16, 20 and 10 seats, respectively. While polls were held on November 20, results were declared on November 23.
With PTI inputs