Bharatiya Janata Party MP Kirit Somaiya on Monday said that he had written to the Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Enforcement Directorate, seeking an investigation into the defection of six Maharashtra Navnirman Sena corporators to the Shiv Sena.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray had on Sunday claimed that the Shiv Sena paid the six corporators Rs 5 crore each to switch sides. Dilip Lande, Archana Bhalerao, Snehal More, Datta Narvankar, Parashuram Kadam and Ashwini Matekar were the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena corporators who joined the Shiv Sena on Friday.
In his letter to the Enforcement Directorate, Somaiya claimed that the alleged financial transactions between the six corporators and Shiv Sena were enabled by Pushpak Bullion, a firm in Mumbai. The firm’s director, Chandrakant Patel, had been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on September 22 for allegedly using demonetised currency worth crores of rupees to buy gold.
Somaiya said that the lone Maharashtra Navnirman Sena corporator who did not defect to the Shiv Sena had also claimed that he had been offered crores of rupees.
On Saturday, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Manoj Kotak said the defections were a “betrayal of voters”. He said, “This is not just horse-trading, but a betrayal of promise made to the Mumbaikars. We have demanded that Konkan commissioner, police commissioner and the Anti-Corruption Bureau to investigate the matter and initiate action against the mastermind of this episode.”
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