Bhaskar Jadhav takes chartered plane to Aurangabad to resign

Jadhav was accompanied by Sena secretary Milind Narvekar, former Sena MP Chandrakant Khaire, and Sena MLC Anil Parab to Aurangabad.

A day before the ‘inauspicious’ Pitru Paksha begins, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Bhaskar Jadhav on Friday flew to Aurangabad by a chartered flight to get his resignation approved by Assembly speaker Haribhau Bagde. Bagde, who was touring the district for his work, in turn, rode pillion on a bike to accept Jadhav’s resignation, as his car was stuck in a jam at a railway crossing. Jadhav joined the Sena on Friday.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Bhaskar Jadhav on Friday flew to Aurangabad by a chartered flight to get his resignation approved by Assembly speaker Haribhau Bagde (Kunal Patil/HT Photo)

The 15-day Pitru Paksha period, where Hindus refrain from taking any new initiative, starts on Saturday. “Everyone is free to follow their beliefs. The speaker was in Aurangabad, so we went there to hand over his resignation,” said a Sena leader.

Jadhav was accompanied by Sena secretary Milind Narvekar, former Sena MP Chandrakant Khaire, and Sena MLC Anil Parab to Aurangabad.

Party insiders said the exact location of the meeting was decided at the eleventh hour. Bagde was to be in Mumbai, but due to his engagements, he could not come back.

“I was in Kumbephal [in Aurangabad district]. I had programme to attend in Karmad as well, and then in Beed. Had I taken the car [to meet Jadhav], I would have to go around the railway crossing, which would have taken more time. When they called me, I asked them to sit at BJP worker Ram Shelke’s office in Kumbephal, and told them that I will reach there. I walked and crossed the railway tracks. As I was walking, I saw someone I knew, he offered me to take me the office on his bike... I merely fulfilled my duties,” Bagde told HT.

“There was Ganpati at my residence till Thursday. So I wanted to resign, which is required as per the rules, and join the Shiv Sena,” Jadhav said.