Sena’s Shirdi candidate in trouble
Bombay HC will deliver its verdict on a corruption case against Baban Gholap.
Just a month before Shirdi votes in the Lok Sabha elections, the Bombay High Court is expected to deliver its verdict on a corruption case against Baban Gholap, the Shiv Sena candidate from the constituency. The court is hearing a petition on Gholap’s alleged involvement in a scam when he was the Maharashtra Social Justice Minister in 1998.
Anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare had alleged in 1998 that Gholap was involved in siphoning off Rs 4.5 cr from three state-run corporations into the bankrupt Awami Mercantile Bank. Gholap allegedly got a kickback for this. Gholap had resigned in 1999 over the allegations. The Hazare-led Bhrashtachar Virodhi Jan Andolan had then filed a petition with the High Court. “The court has finished hearing this petition. It is expected to deliver the verdict in a month. I fear that the judgement could go against Gholap,” a Shiv Sena leader told The Sunday Guardian.
The leader believes that Hazare will campaign against Gholap and damage his chances in Shirdi, which is located in Hazare’s home district of Ahmednagar. “Anna will campaign against Gholap as he has personal scores to settle with him. It will give the Congress an undue advantage,” he said.
Gholap had sued Hazare for defamation over Hazare’s “baseless” allegations that he had amassed disproportionate assets. A Metropolitan Court in Nashik had found Hazare guilty and sentenced him to three months in prison. The thenChief Minister Manohar Joshi had reduced Hazare’s sentence to one day. Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut did not to respond to queries on this matter.
Gholap, a Member of Legislative Assembly from Devlali, was the party’s first MLA from North Maharashtra. The Shiv Sena MP from Shirdi, Bhausaheb Wackchoure, recently left the party and is fighting for re-election on a Congress ticket.