Damania seeks withdrawal of former minister Khadse's security

Activist Anjali Damania today demanded withdrawal of police protection assigned to former Maharashtra BJP minister Eknath Khadse, saying it is a "waste" of public money.

She also demanded that a report of a committee, appointed by the state government to probe charges of corruption against the former minister, be made public.

Damania, a former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader, today staged a protest along with activists, at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai against Khadse.

"The Maharashtra government spent taxpayers' money to the tune of Rs 45.42 lakh on the Zoting Committee (appointed to probe the charges against the former minister). However, the report was not made public by the so called transparent government of Maharashtra. We demand that this report be made public," she said.

Later, the activists called on Additional Chief Secretary (Home) S K Srivastava, and submitted a memorandum demanding withdrawal of Khadse's security cover.

"Met ACS, Home, S K Shrivastav and gave a letter demanding withdrawal of excess security to MLA Eknath Khadse. He is still enjoying a Y+ security. Shrivastav has informed us that it will be put for review before Assessment Committee," Damania tweeted after the meeting.

The state government had set up the Justice (retd) Dinkar Zoting panel to probe allegations of land grab against Khadse, who had served as Revenue Minister in the BJP-led state government during late 2014 to June 2016.

The panel had submitted its report on July 4 last year. Though the report was not made public, some media reports had said that it gave a clean chit to Khadse.

"Eknath Khadse is provided with a huge security cover, which is generally given only to ministers. The cost of providing security to Khadse is Rs 42,000 per day. My RTI query has found that so far Rs 2.56 crore has been spent on the security for Khadse in the last 20 months since he stepped down as a minister. Now, he is just an MLA," Damania claimed.

She alleged that Khadse was trying to "harass and threaten" her.

Damania had levelled several allegations against Khadse in the past.

A BJP worker had filed a case against Damania in a magistrate's court in Jalgaon district last year for allegedly defaming Khadse.

In September 2017, Damania had accused Khadse of making obscene remarks against her and demanded his arrest.

Khadse, however, had denied having made any such remarks against the social activist.