Oppn says BJP mantri and ex-MLC at Dawood Ibrahim relative wedding, walks out

NAGPUR: Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray and leader of the opposition in the council Ambadas Danve on Monday accused rural development minister Girish Mahajan and former MLC Balasaheb Sanap, both from the BJP, of attending the wedding ceremony of a relative of Dawood Ibrahim.

Most of the opposition legislators staged a walkout and boycotted council proceedings as they demanded a special investigation team (SIT) on the matter.

When the issue was brought up, deputy chairperson Neelam Gorhe instructed Danve and MLC Eknath Khadse to proceed with their statement without naming the minister.

Armed with photographs of the event, Danve sought an investigation similar to the SIT inquiry that Shiv Sena (UBT) Nashik president Sudhakar Badgujar is facing over alleged Dawood links.

"BJP members are writing letters to deputy chief minister on terrorism and treason (regarding Badgujar). But these are their own people. A Sena city president is under investigation though allegations are not proven. If he is being investigated then Mahajan and Sanap must be probed too," he said.

Khadse, an NCP (Sharad Pawar group) MLC said a BJP minister had attended a wedding in 2017-18 hosted by a family related to fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. "If allegation has been made that a minister attended the wedding of a relative of a 1993 blast convict, is it right for such a minister to remain in his post?" he said.

Later Dy CM Devendra Fadnavis replied on the matter and demanded Khadse's apology to the council for making a baseless claim. He said perhaps the allegation was raised because Uddhav Thackeray was present in the house.

"The minister concerned and many other political leaders and government officers had attended the wedding of a nephew of a renowned Muslim priest in Nashik city, known as Shaher-e-Khatib. An allegation was made that one of the daughters in the family of the in-laws of the bride's father was married to a brother of Dawood. There is no case against any one of them. In 2017-18, the investigation team has clearly stated that Shaher-e-Khatib has nothing to do with Dawood," Fadnavis, who is also the home minister, said.