Plea filed in Bombay HC seeking probe into money spent by Maha CM Eknath Shinde on Dussehra rally – India Today

A social worker has filed a petition in the Bombay High Court seeking an investigation into the amount spent by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on the Dussehra rally he organised at the Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai on October 5.

The Bombay High Court is likely to hear the petition again after the Diwali vacation.

By Vidya S: A social worker has filed a petition in the Bombay High Court seeking an investigation into the amount spent by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on the Dussehra rally he organised at the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) in Mumbai on October 5. The rally is said to have brought 2 lakh people from across the state.

The petition filed by a social worker from Kandivali East area of Mumbai, through advocate Nitin Satpute, seeks an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Enforcement Directorate and the Economic Offences Wing of the Mumbai Police.

The petitioner alleged that the 1,700 buses of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation were pressed into service by the state government to ferry people for the event. The plea stated that Eknath Shinde paid about Rs 10 crore or more to the state transport utility for the service, apart from paying those who provided other facilities at the rally.

READ |Uddhav, Shinde fight for claim on Sena, Balasaheb’s legacy at Dussehra rallies

The petition claimed that Shinde is a Chief Minister of an unrecognised government and the leader of an unregistered party. “When Shindes party is not registered, the question is who has spent all this money on the rally?” asked the petitioner.

The plea claimed that people in Maharashtra had to suffer as there were no buses for normal commuters. It further said that the Mumbai Nagpur Samruddhi expressway, which has still not been opened for public use, was used to ferry people for the Dussehra rally at BKC. There was an accident near Daulatabad but fortunately, there was no loss of life.

The plea is likely to come up for hearing after the Diwali vacation.

Read |Why the Dussehra face-off between Uddhav, Eknath Shinde was a draw

In June this year, Eknath Shinde revolted against Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray with 39 MLAs and went on to become the Chief Minister of Maharashtra with the BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis as his deputy. Since then, tensions have been brewing between the two factions of the Shiv Sena–one led by Thackeray and the other by Shinde–over the party offices, party symbol and which among the two factions is the real Shiv Sena.

Last week, Uddhav Thackeray received a big blow as 3,000 Shiv Sena members from Mumbai’s Worli area joined the Eknath Shinde faction ahead of the Dussehra rally on October 5.

Currently, the issue of which among the two factions will be allowed to use the Shiv Sena’s bow and arrow symbol is pending before the Election Commission of India.