Caste certificate of Solapur BJP MP ruled invalid

The state government’s district caste validity committee has termed the caste certificate of BJP MP Dr Jaisiddheshwar Shivacharya Mahaswami invalid on Monday. The

The state government’s district caste validity committee has termed the caste certificate of BJP MP Dr Jaisiddheshwar Shivacharya Mahaswami invalid on Monday. The decision is likely to increase troubles for the BJP MP from Solapur as he may be disqualified for the post as Solapur is a constituency reserved for scheduled caste candidates.

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Mahaswami has decided to challenge the order in Bombay high court.

Mahaswami, a Lingayat religious leader, had won the seat in a high-profile contest against former chief minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar. His election had been challenged on the grounds that he had submitted an invalid certificate to claim he was a scheduled caste candidate.

The BJP MP, through his lawyer, provided three documents including his father’s birth certificate to claim that he belongs to Beda Jangam caste. He also referred to the caste certificate issued to him in 1982 by the competent authority in Akkalkot tehsil in Solpaur.

“Not a single credible evidence was produced before the committee to prove his caste to be Beda Jangam. All the evidences were provided after manipulating records. The evidences by complainants show that Mahaswami is from Jangam, and not of Beda Jangam, caste,” stated the order. Jangam is not a scheduled caste.

Santosh Navkar, Swami’s lawyer, said, “We have already submitted all documents and decided to approach Bombay high court on Tuesday. We did not submit any fake documents. We have all valid documents required to prove our caste.”

Ahead of the elections, VBA leader Pramod Gaikwad and other opposition party members had raised questions over the validity of the caste certificate, but election officers had turned it down.