BJP leader Kirit Somaiya alleges Rs 100 crore scam by Shiv Sena leader Yashwant Jadhav, demands probe by Enforcement Directorate (ED), Income Tax department (IT Dept) and Election Commission of India (ECI).
BJP leader Kirit Somaiya said, “Mumbai Corporation, Shiv Sena leader Yashwant Jadhav’s 100 crore scam probe started. The preliminary report is ready. I requested action from ED, Income Tax, and Election Commission.”
Somaiya further stated that “Complaints have been registered to the Election Department, Tax Department and the ED. MLA Yamini Jadhav, Yashwant Jadhav, their sons Yatin Jadhav, Nikhil Jadhav and their dozens of bogus companies, Pradhan dealers, Skylink commercials, super soft suppliers, etc. BMC’s contractor’s money and Yashwantrao’s scam will be exposed soon.”
Yashwant Jadhav, who is the standing committee chairman in Shiv Sena-controlled Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), has refuted all the allegations stating he is unaware of all that Somaiya is talking about.
Yashwant Jadhav told Afternoon Voice “From the past six months Kirit Somaiya has been making all sorts of allegations but I don’t know what has triggered him. So far there is no official inquiry on me, and no authorities questioned me on these so-called allegations, If authorities question me I am ready to answer them but not everyone. I am not answerable to the opposition. They are doing their job, let them.”
Another Shiv Sena leader said it was a political conspiracy to defame Jadhav ahead of BMC elections. Kirit Somaiya has accused many Shiv Sena leaders of some of the other scams and corruption but he himself could not reach any conclusion. His allegation comes as soap bubbles and bursts.
In the purported audio clip, Jadhav is heard asking Suraj Pratap Singh Deora — a representative of Yash Corporation — to withdraw from the contract of development works worth Rs 2.17 crore in corporator ward 206 in E ward (Byculla). The firm had bagged the contract through e-tendering. As Deora expressed his inability to withdraw from the works, Jadhav is allegedly heard asking him if he wanted to continue working with BMC or not. While Jadhav is a corporator from ward 206, his wife Yamini Jadhav is the Byculla MLA. Meanwhile, BJP leader Vinod Mishra said, “Jadhav’s direction is clear cut interference in administrative work.”
Jadhav, however, denied all allegations. “The allegations of threatening the contractor are false. Since the contractor’s work was not satisfactory, I was asking the BMC administration not to give the contract to this company. The same contractor had done works in Mulund in BJP corporators wards.
A day after the Income Tax (I-T) Department reportedly found discrepancies in the election affidavit filed by Shiv Sena legislator Yamini Jadhav for the 2019 Assembly polls, her husband and Sena leader Yashwant Jadhav said the allegations were politically motivated ahead of the BMC election. He added they have not received any communication from any central agency so far. The Shiv Sena has maintained silence on the issue.
The I-T department may submit its findings to the Election Commission and seek her disqualification, which can become a major embarrassment for the ruling Shiv Sena. The I-T Department has found that a Kolkata-based shell company was used to launder Rs 15 crores by Jadhav’s. The findings showed that as per the affidavit filed by the candidate, she availed an unsecured loan including one from Pradhan Dealers Pvt Ltd of Rs 1 crore. The department said Pradhan Dealers was found to be a shell company run and controlled from Kolkata by entry operators.
