Murder casts shadow on polls even after 18 years
MUMBAI: A murder that took place on Mumbai-pune expressway near Kalamboli in 2006 is casting its shadow on election in Osmanabad even after 18 years.
On June 3, 2006, Pawan Rajenimbalkar, a local Congress leader from Osmanabad and his driver were shot dead near Kalamboli. The CBI filed an offence against NCP heavyweight from the region, Padmasinh Patil and others. The trial in the case is still on in a CBI court in Mumbai.
The rivalry between the two families still continues to this day and finds a reflection in local politics. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Rajenimbalkar’s son Omprakash or Omraje (Shiv Sena) defeated Patil’s son Rana Jagjitsinh (NCP) in Osmanabad constituency. Now, Omprakash is seeking re-election from the constituency on Shiv Sena (UBT) ticket while he is being challenged by Rana Jagjitsinh’s wife Archana Patil who is fielded by Ajit Pawar-led NCP.
The Rajenimbalkar murder case had become a major political controversy in 2006. According to the charges framed in the case, the murder took place out of political enmity between Patil and Rajenimbalkar. Patil, a close aide of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, was then a minister in the ruling Congress-ncp government. The case was controversial as Omprakash had alleged political interference. Even anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare had appeared as a witness before the court. He had alleged that the accused had given a contract to kill him as well for making allegations against the latter in a corruption case.
Patil and Rajenimbalkar used to work together before their relations turned bitter. “The duo controlled the Terna cooperative sugar factory and some other cooperative bodies in the district. There were also some allegations of misappropriation against them. Something went wrong between them and later they turned rivals,” said a former legislator from the district. Since the murder, the two families have been at loggerheads with each other, which has also reflected in assembly and Lok Sabha elections. Omprakash joined Shiv Sena and defeated Rana Jagjitsinh (NCP) in Osmanabad assembly constituency in 2009 while Rana returned the favour in 2014 assembly elections by defeating his cousin.
The Lok Sabha election of 2019 saw a continuation of the enmity between the families as Shiv Sena fielded Omprakash while NCP gave a ticket to Patil’s son Rana Jagjitsinh. Omprakash won the seat with a huge margin of over 1.2 lakh votes. Six months later, Jagjitsinh joined BJP and was elected as an MLA.
Their tussles in the district are all too common.
A few months ago, a video of a spat between the duo in the meeting of the district planning and development committee went viral. Once again, their enmity will be in focus as Rana Jagjitsinh’s wife takes on Omprakash for the Osmanabad seat.
Meanwhile, 18 years later, the trial in the case is still on. Patil and the other accused are out on bail.