TMT chairman polls: BJP appoints fact-finding panel

The one-man panel of former BJP MP Ram Naik will go into details of unsavoury incidents involving party leaders

Maharashtra BJP has appointed a committee to look into various 'unsavoury' incidents involving its local leaders in recent past.

"The one-man panel of former BJP MP Ram Naik will go into details of the incidents including the one involving district chief Milind Patankar and will submit its report within next fortnight," state unit BJP president Devendra Fadnavis said here last night on the sidelines of an event.

Deputy Mayor Milind Patankar was manhandled on December 23 allegedly by members of BJP and Shiv Sena who also ransacked his cabin in the Municipal Corporation headquarters.

Patankar later resigned after being held captive by an irate mob of Shiv Sena and BJP workers for more than four hours in his office.

The high pitched drama in the civic headquarters was the fallout of transport committee member Ajay Joshi defecting from the BJP to the NCP-Congress camp who voted the rebel Sena nominee Shailesh Bhagat to the office of the Chairman of the TMT Committee.

Patankar was targeted by the Sena and BJP since Joshi is considered close to him and it was alleged that Patankar had deceived his partymen even in past elections.

After Patankar stepped down, BJP leader Mukesh Mokashi was elected as the deputy mayor unopposed.

However, police registered an FIR against Mokashi and several others in connection with ransacking of Patankar's cabin.

BJP has already suspended its member in Thane Municipal Transport (TMT) Committee Ajay Joshi for six years for cross-voting in favour of a rebel Shiv Sena nominee to get him elected as the chairman in recently held elections.