MUMBAI: The BJP on Wednesday, November 3, 2021, demanded the resignation of Maharashtra minister Shankarrao Gadakh over the 'suicide' of a 27-year-old man who had allegedly served as his personal assistant.
Gadakh, a Shiv Sena leader who holds the water conservation portfolio, denied any connection with the suicide and said the deceased, Pratik Balasaheb Kale, had never worked for him.
State BJP chief spokesperson Keshav Upadhye told reporters that Kale, in a video shared before his alleged suicide on October 30, had leveled various allegations against the minister, his wife and his brother Vijay Gadakh.
The Ahmednagar police registered an FIR against seven other persons mentioned by Kale but did not even name the minister and other two in the FIR, he said.
"We want Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to either ask Gadakh to resign or remove him from his post. Otherwise the BJP will demand a CBI inquiry," Upadhye said.
The BJP spokesperson claimed that as per Kale's video statement, he had been working with Gadakh for seven years.
"Kale has also alleged harassment, this should be probed," Upadhye said.
Speaking to reporters, Gadakh said, "All the allegations levelled by Upadhye are false. Kale was an employee of the Yashvantrao Chavan Dental College run by my brother. I have nothing to do with the college.
"Pratik Kale was not even my PA...It is my own demand that his unfortunate death should be probed. His phone is in police's possession. I do not think one will find any phone calls between us," he added.
Gadakh won the 2019 Assembly poll as an independent candidate from Nevasa in Ahmednagar district on the support of the NCP, but joined the Sena after becoming minister in the coalition government.