Anjali Damania demands national-level probe

Former AAP leader Anjali Damania carries out a protest against Eknath Khadse at Azad Maidan. (Photo: Rajesh Jadhav)

Stating that the resignation of Eknath Khadse was not enough, activist and former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Anjali Damania demanded that a national-level probe should be initiated against him and threatened to continue her hunger strike.

Mr Khadse has resigned barely two days after Ms Damania came into limelight.

Ms Damania also levelled fresh allegations against Mr Khadse saying he used his discretionary powers to secure deals for Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) land measuring around 929 acres in total at Palghar, Wada taluka, and Devghar village near Amby valley.

“Mr Khadse used his power to benefit private companies. He bypassed all the rules by converting land reserved for forests and adivasis by converting them into special economic zones (SEZ) land and then into MIDC land,” she said.

Ms Damania said her fight was not over yet and had just started. She said the chief minister should now initiate a time-bound inquiry into the allegations against Mr Khadse. “Merely resigning from the post will not work. A national-level inquiry should be conducted into the matter. His daughter-in-law who is an MP and other family members should also resign from their posts,” she said.

It has been alleged that Ms Damania was helped by Mr Khadse’s opponents in the BJP. However, she said she gathered all the documents against Mr Khadse single-handedly and no one from the BJP helped her.

Meanwhile, AAP, Mumbai spokesperson, Preeti Sharma Menon, said, “We welcome Eknath Khadse’s resignation; but it is clear Mr Khadse was trying to avoid the issue for the last four days. AAP demands that Mr Khadse should be arrested and custodial inquiry should be initiated against him; further his bank accounts should be seized.”

AAP had first alleged that Mr Khadse was receiving calls from Dawood Ibrahim based on the information given by ‘ethical’ hacker Manish Bhangale.

Ms Menon further added that AAP feared Mr Khadse and BJP leadership had arrived at an understanding.

“Now that Khadse has resigned, there will be no further action against him and the allegations will be forgotten,” she said.

She said, “We are not claiming that all the allegations against Mr Khadse are true; however, to find out if there is some truth in the allegations by the Pune-based developer and the hacker, there should be proper investigation into the matter or else we will approach a court of law.”

Damania’s allegations Anjali Damania claimed that Eknath Khadse had used his discretionary powers to benefit private companies in Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation land deals. These were the same lands which Mr Khadse had opposed selling when he was the Leader of the Opposition. He has also overlooked the objections raised by the tehsildar and additional collector. Pointing out to the land deal at Aamby Valley, Ms Damania claimed the buyer has to take a special permission, which was not taken.