Despite making an announcement, the BJP leader is yet to give back the land.
After dna's exposé, BJP minister Girish Mahajan had promised that he would return the controversial 4.97 acre of land at Manpur (Bhusawal) to the Dalit farmer. However, the Dalit farmer is still waiting to get back the land.
"I had got a call from Girish Mahajan's personal assistant, saying that minister will meet me on Friday and would hand over our land to us. We also got similar calls from two local BJP corporators saying that Mahajan is an honest minister and he wants to return back the land. On Friday, I waited till evening for his call but in vain," said Harish Govind Tayade (40), son of Govind Jangalu on whose name land registered in the 7/12 extract.
Tayade said that he had planned to go out on Friday but he wanted his land back from the minister so he stayed at home the entire day. "I tried calling minister's personal assistant and corporators but no one answered the call. I did not know what went wrong. We often experience in our daily life that politicians never remain true to their words, I hope Mahajan doesn't go back on his promise. The Manpur land belongs to us and it is our right to get back the land. The land has been lying vacant for the last 14 years. We have lost so much," he said.
Tayade runs a small grocery shop at Manpur. "Once we were good farmers and used to get enough food from our land. Now, we are landless because of greedy politicians. I am finding it very difficult to make our ends meet. Once I get back our land, we will be happy again," Tayade said.
When dna contacted Mahajan, he was not available for comment. However, a local resident of Bhusawal, Ravi Patil said that Mahajan may delay his decision due to his personal reasons. "But I am sure that he will surely give back the land. Otherwise, the minister will lose his credibility and local standing," Patil said.
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