Desertion charge unsettles Tadas

NAGPUR: In a significant embarrassment for the BJP and its Wardha candidate Ramdas Tadas, Shiv Sena (UBT) deputy leader Sushma Andhare on Thursday accused him of abandoning his daughter-in-law Pooja and her baby, prompting Pooja to contest the election against Tadas to seek justice.

Speaking to the media, Andhare alleged that Pooja was coerced into marriage to protect her husband Pankaj Tadas from a rape accusation nearly three years ago. A harrowing ordeal of abuse, physical violence and ne g l e c t , including being deprived of food on multiple occasions, allegedly ensued before Pooja was abandoned with her infant. Despite Pankaj’s disavowal of his son and wife, Pooja remains adamant about getting justice and support from her father-in-law. Andhare plans to meet PM Narendra Modi during his visit to Wardha on April 20 for a rally. “Is Pooja not a member of the ‘Modi family’?” the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader asked in a jibe at the recent ‘Modi ka parivar’ claim made by BJP leaders. “Why then is she being denied support?” Charging the government with turning a blind eye to the injustices faced by Pooja at the hands of Ramdas Tadas and his family, Andhare criticised its failure to address such issues despite grandiloquent promises.

However, Tadas, aiming for a third consecutive victory in the Lok Sabha polls, refuted all allegations, claiming no association with his son or daughter-in-law. He dismissed the accusations as a ploy by opposition parties to tarnish his image, emphasising that the issue of his son’s marr i a g e wa s o l d a n d b e i n g exploited for electoral purposes.