The Enforcement Directorate summoned four Aam Aadmi Party leaders – State President Amit Patkar, former ESG vice-chairman Ramrao Wagh, Dattaprasad Naik and Bhandari Samaj president Ashok Naik for questioning in the Rs 100 cr Delhi liquor scam under Prevention of Money Laundering (PMLA) case.
Interestingly, all four leaders belonged to the Bhandari samaj, the largest voting community in Goan politics.
Palekar was the AAP’s chief ministerial face during the February 2022 Goa Assembly polls as he represented the Bhandari Samaj.
Now, the ED says Rs 45 crore from the South Group was used by the AAP in their Goa campaign for the polls in 2022.
The investigating agency claimed that the money came to Goa through four routes, even hinting at hawala.
The ED states that AAP had hired Chariot Productions for its election campaign in Goa. On examining the vendors of the company, it was found that many of them had received “part cash, part bill” payments from Chariot Productions.
Now the question arises why did the ED summon all four Bhandari samaj leaders only and not the elected representatives – Velim MLA Cruz Silva and the Benaulim MLA Venzy Viegas?
The development seems to be confusing and defies logic as it comes just ahead of the Lok Sabha polls when the BJP’s North Goa candidate Shirpad Naik is banking on the Bhandari Samaj votes for his sixth straight win in the parliamentary polls.
Moreover, two out of the four leaders summoned were core workers of the BJP in the past.
Excluding Amit Palekar and Ashok Naik, two others Ramrao Wagh, and Dattaprasad Naik were BJP members. Also, Ashok Naik was earlier the right-hand man of Agriculture Minister Ravi Naik.
Bhandari Samaj divided?
The Bhandari Samaj itself is divided a lot with two factions Ashok Naik and Upendra Gaonkar.
While Ashok Naik supported AAP, the Upendra faction supported the earlier united Shiv Sena. Currently, his political position is not known.
Sources said that Ashok Naik’s tenure as president has expired and the new committee will be elected soon after AGM.
Nonetheless, the ED summons to the leaders just ahead of the biggest polls in the world, has not augured well with the members of both factions, who see this as a political move.
The political pundits feel this could have some impact on the voting percentage of Shripad Bhau in North Goa, which has a sizeable population in North Goa.