Officers on special duty brought about downfall?

MUMBAI: In the higher echelons of the BJP, it is believed that revenue minister Eknath Khadse’s officers on special duty (OSDs) were responsible for his downfall. In fact, none other than chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had specifically told Khadse to give marching orders to some controversial OSDs to protect his as well as the government’s image, but the latter turned a blind eye to the proposal.
In the Rs 30-crore corruption allegation levelled by R K Jadhav, a former director of a leading management institute, in land allotment for a project promoted by him, the name of OSD Unmesh Mahajan figured prominently. It was alleged that Mahajan was the link between Jadhav and Khadse. The ACB had arrested Gajanan Patil, who was allegedly Khadse’s trusted aide, for demanding the Rs 30 crore from Jadhav. Mahajan is from Jalgaon, which is also Khadse’s hometown. Earlier, he was the then revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat’s private secretary. A week ago, the ACB recorded Mahajan’s statement.
Shantaram Bhoi is another controversial OSD, who too comes from Jalgaon. Earlier, he was with the then minister of state for home J T Mahajan and the then education minister Madhukarrao Choudhary. When Khadse was inducted into the cabinet in 1995 during the Sena-BJP government, Bhoi joined his office as personal assistant (PA) and has been associated with him since then. When Fadnavis took charge, he had asked all cabinet members to ensure that PAs from the previous government should not be appointed. Bhoi then joined the office of the speaker, but continued to work at Khadse’s office too. In the corridors of power, it’s a well known that unless Bhoi gives a green signal, Khadse does not look at a file. NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik had sought an ACB probe into the roles of Bhoi and Mahajan in the bribe case.
The name of excise inspector Manoj Choudhary, a PA in Khadse’s office, had figured in a corruption case involving a senior excise superintendent. Senior cabinet members had asked Khadse to shunt out these OSDs and personal assistants, but he ignored the warnings.