Jitendra Awhad booked in ‘molestation’ case for pushing BJP worker

Mumbai: The Thane police booked NCP MLA and former minister Jitendra Awhad on charges of molestation after he allegedly pushed a female BJP office-bearer while trying to make his way through a crowd in Thane city

Mumbai: The Thane police booked NCP MLA and former minister Jitendra Awhad on charges of molestation after he allegedly pushed a female BJP office-bearer while trying to make his way through a crowd in Thane city. The incident took place on Sunday night.

HT Image

The action against the NCP leader has been met with disbelief by the state Opposition, with leaders stating that this was nothing but political vendetta. Meanwhile Awhad, who said he “could not tolerate the tarnishing of his image with a molestation case”, announced his resignation and handed it over to state NCP chief Jayant Patil after the latter reached his Thane residence on Monday afternoon. “The Shinde-Fadnavis government has decided to finish off political opponents any which way, and could charge me with even a rape case,” Awhad told reporters.

In the video of the incident that has gone viral on social media, the NCP leader can be seen pushing the woman to one side to make his way through the crowd that had gathered to meet Chief Minister Eknath Shinde last night.

The complainant and vice-president of the BJP’s Minority Morcha, Rida Asghar Rashid, who held a press meet on Monday, claimed that Awhad took advantage of the fact that there was a huge crowd to push her aside. She claimed that she was trying to get close to a car to meet the chief minister, who was leaving the venue after inaugurating a new bridge in Mumbra town. “Suddenly Awhad came in my way and asked, ‘Why are you blocking the way? Move.’ He then grabbed my shoulders and pushed me aside.” Rashid says she felt “embarrassed” and later met Shinde, requesting him to direct the local police to register a case against Awhad.

This is the second case filed against Awhad within a week. Last Friday, Thane’s Vartak Nagar police had arrested him on charges of disrupting a late-night screening of the Marathi movie ‘Har Har Mahadev’ at Thane’s Viviana Mall multiplex.

The entire top brass of NCP has come out in defence of the MLA who is close to party chief Sharad Pawar. Patil, as well as leader of the Opposition Ajit Pawar who also met him on Monday, tried their level best to convince him not to resign but to no avail. The NCP has alleged that the action against Awhad was taken at the behest of chief minister Eknath Shinde, as the complainant filed the case only after meeting Shinde on Sunday night. Patil also shared pictures of the complainant along with the chief minister, claiming they were from the meeting where the conspiracy was hatched against Awhad.

Ajit Pawar slammed the Shinde-Fadnavis government for making attempts to silence political opponents and called them “shameful”. NCP MP Supriya Sule said it was clear from the video that Awhad was just trying to make way by moving the woman aside as she was coming from the opposite direction. “How can this be called molestation? How appropriate is it to book him in such a case?” she asked.

Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and AAP leaders too have slammed the government for targeting Awhad. Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant termed the action as “vindictive politics”. “The Shinde-Fadnavis government is willing to go to any extent,” he said. “During Ganesh Chaturthi, volunteers push people to control the crowds but is that defined as molestation? It is very easy to thus tarnish the image of a political leader, because once it is in the news, nothing can be done.”

AAP leader Anjali Damania too criticised the government. “Molestation! Irrational allegations have been made. I have fought against Awhad a lot but this allegation against him is unfair,” Damania said in a tweet.

When questioned, chief minister Shinde claimed that his party would not take any action out of political vendetta. “I don’t know if Jitendra Awhad has tendered his resignation or not. The police will investigate the case as per law and will take action only if the allegations are found to be true,” Shinde said in response to the allegations of conspiracy and political revenge.

Maharashtra BJP chief Bawankule went further in his defence of the police action. Claiming that deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis never took action against anyone out of political vengeance, he said that the case against Awhad had been registered only after watching the CCTV footage. “If the woman was coming from the opposite side, why didn’t he move back or step aside?” he said, questioning Awhad’s intention. “He has committed a serious crime. If there is any morality left in the NCP, they should suspend him.”

Awhad (59) is a three-time MLA from the Mumbra-Kalwa constituency. He joined politics as a student activist, protesting against spiralling college fees in 1982. He is a vocal critic of right-wing politics and is one of the prominent OBC faces of the party.