MUMBAI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has alleged that the resignation of minister Sanjay Rathod was not forwarded to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari yet and said Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackery asked for his resignation to avoid chaos in the Budget session.
Rathod is allegedly involved in the death case of 22-year-old girl Pooja Chavan.
Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly and BJP leader Pravin Darekar said the BJP expects some more drama in a few days over Rathod's resignation.
"We believe that the Chief Minister has asked for his resignation just to avoid chaos in the budget session. We fear that his resignation will not be accepted once the session is over. So, he is still the forest minister of the state. We expect some more drama in a few days over Sanjay Rathod's resignation," he said.
BJP MLA from Buldhana, Sanjay Kute said Rathod is still the Forest minister and enjoys all the privileges of being a minister.
"What I remember, the Chief Minister had announced about Sanjay Rathod's resignation in the press conference before the Budget session but the resignation is still not accepted and forwarded to the Governor, which means Sanjay Rathod is still Forest minister of the state and he can enjoy all the privileges of being a minister," Kute said.
The BJP MLA said the Chief Minister still wants to keep Rathod in the cabinet as his resignation has not been sent to the Governor.
He also alleged that the Chief Minister has still not allocated the forest department to any other minister as an additional charge, which makes his allegation more valid that Rathod is still forest minister of Maharashtra.
On February 8, Chavan had allegedly jumped off a building in Pune to end her life. Hailing from Parli town in Beed, Chavan had gone to Pune for an English speaking course. A couple of days after her death, some of her audio clips went viral on social media which the opposition took up and pointed fingers at the Maharashtra Forest Minister Sanjay Rathod, demanding an investigation into the case.
The BJP has alleged that Rathod is connected with the mysterious death of the woman in Pune. However, Rathod had denied all allegations.