Many Maratha leaders are also raising their voices seeking justice for Deshmukh. From the BJP, Maratha leader and Ashti MLA Suresh Dhas is giving a tough time to his own government, demanding murder charges against Karad and Munde’s resignation.
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On the other hand, OBC leader Chhagan Bhujbal from the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP-AP), who has remained miffed with the Mahayuti since he was dropped as a cabinet minister, has thrown his weight behind Dhananjay Munde, saying that the demands for his resignation are “premature and unwarranted”.
However, according to political experts, these Maratha-OBC fault lines are more political than social.
Babasaheb Sarate, a political analyst from Marathwada, told ThePrint that the communities are not hostile towards each other on the ground and that the Maratha vs OBC issue is more a political convenience for some parties than anything else.
“This is all political, I feel. Any action against the accused will come in the way of the politics of the ruling government, especially that of the BJP. It will come in the way of BJP’s MA-DH-VA (Mali, Dhangar, Vanjari) formula, which keeps its vote bank intact. And so, the politicians themselves are drawing these OBC vs Maratha fault lines,” said Sarate. “On the ground, what I have observed is that there are no major disputes between the Maratha and Vanjari communities. The dispute we saw earlier was on reservations, not this. The fight now is for justice [for Deshmukh].”
Another academician and political analyst, Jaidev Dole from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad), told ThePrint that political leaders are taking a convenient line to divert attention from the nexus of corporates and politicians developing around the booming renewable energy sector in Beed.
“This is not an issue of caste, but this issue has been made to be about caste amid the growing renewable energy sector and windmills in the region. There is a nexus growing between the corporates and the political class, and the political class wants to divert attention from that,” said Dole.
Though Dole did not deny the caste fault lines, he said that the same is not new in Beed. Since the times of the late Gopinath Munde, the caste divide was growing between the OBCs and the Marathas as the BJP promoted the OBCs, he said.
The controversy around Deshmukh’s murder is turning out to be difficult for the Devendra Fadnavis-led government to handle in the face of mounting pressure from Dhas and also because Deshmukh was a BJP booth worker and one of the suspects is Munde’s man Karad.
Munde, in turn, is close to Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, so the controversy has put not only the BJP but also the NCP-AP in a tight spot.
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Caste politics over murder
Amid the controversy, Jarange held a rally in Parbhani where he targeted Dhananjay Munde. He said the Maratha community would not allow Munde to roam on the streets if any harm befalls Dehmukh’s family.
Jarange demanded the government ensure that the police book all murder suspects under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), adding that the CM should not go soft on Munde.
On Monday, Dhananjay Deshmukh, the slain sarpanch’s brother, climbed atop a water tank in the Massajog village, claiming that if the accused went unpunished, it would put his family’s life in danger. Jarange-Patil then reached the spot and tried to convince Deshmukh to get down while talking on the phone with him.
Speaking to Deshmukh, Jarange-Patil asked Dhananjay to not get demotivated as the entire community is with him. “If anything happens to you, I will not spare the government. The family and community need you, and you should come down. We will work hard for justice,” he said. The drama went on for two hours before Dhananjay got down.
A close associate of Jarange-Patil told ThePrint, “Patil is working to get justice for Santosh Deshmukh. It is a matter of justice; Deshmukh was a Maratha. We will see to it that justice is delivered.”
On top of this, BJP MLA Dhas has accused Karad of amassing huge wealth and said that the Enforcement Directorate even sent him a notice in 2022.
Opposing the Maratha leaders, the OBC leaders are saying that their community is being vilified after Deshmukh’s murder. OBC activist Laxman Hake accused Jarange-Patil and Dhas of demeaning the serious nature of the murder case.
Speaking to the media Monday, Laxman Hake said, “I am being accused of playing caste politics. But, nowhere have I made this a caste issue. I have always, from Day 1, wanted justice for Santosh Deshmukh. But after the murder, if public representatives are going to look at the caste of the accused and criminalise their entire community, that is not right.”
“As an OBC activist, if my community, officers, and teachers are accused of being criminals, it is not right,” Hake added.
Hake also accused Jarange-Patil supporters of threatening him daily, but the latter’s close associate dismissed the allegation.
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Deshmukh’s murder
Santosh Deshmukh was kidnapped and killed on 9 December 2023. According to the FIR, the Beed sarpanch attempted to stop an extortion bid as well as hooliganism at a wind power plant, Avaada Energy, in Beed’s Massajog village, leading to his killing.
The police have already arrested seven persons and booked them under the MCOCA. They have also arrested Munde’s man Walmik Karad, first on extortion charges only but later slapping the MCOCA sections on him.
Deshmukh’s kin, including Dhananjay, have been saying that though they trust the CM, they want Karad booked under the MCOCA. They have also levelled allegations against the cops, alleging they are not sharing information.
According to the FIR, the copy of which ThePrint has accessed, on 6 December 2023, suspects Ashok Ghule, Sudarshan Ghule and Pradip Ghule attacked AVG’s security guard, demanding to meet company officials. When Deshmukh tried to intervene, the trio allegedly attacked him, leading to a fight.
Afterwards, on 9 December, they allegedly abducted the sarpanch. His body was recovered later. According to MLAs from the Beed district, the accused tortured Deshmukh to death by thrashing him with iron rods and burning his eyes.
“When the issue becomes ‘OBC vs Maratha’, the accused can get sympathy from their community. This is all political strategy. The home ministry is also responsible for the growing ‘goondaism’ and hooliganism in Beed. And, the political class is answerable,” Sarate said.
Booming windmill industry
Deshmukh’s murder has put the spotlight on windmill operations in Beed.
Dole said the government has been commissioning many renewable energy and windmill projects in Beed, with the energy sector now driving a transformation in the economy of the drought-prone district.
According to the Maharashtra Energy Development Agency (MEDA) data, 159 new wind turbines had come up in Beed till 31 March 2024.
Dole said Marathwada has emerged as central to the renewable energy sector development in the state, leading to a nexus between the corporate class and the political class in the region and driving up corruption.
“In the ruling dispensation, the three parties are together. However, Dhas is still accusing Munde and his associates [in the murder]—this is just an eyewash to draw attention away from the existing nexus,” he said. “The caste angle is there, but I feel the larger picture is related to the growing economy.”
There are three FIRs in the case. The third FIR, dated 11 December 2023, names Walmik Karad alongside Sudarshan Ghule and Vishnu Chate, a copy of the FIR accessed by ThePrint has revealed.
According to the complaint—lodged by Sunil Shinde, a project officer at Avaada Energy—at the behest of Walmik Karad, Vishnu Chate, on 29 November 2023, asked the company to stop its operations or face dire consequences. The same day, Ghule allegedly visited the factory and threatened project officer Shinde. Shinde added that only days earlier, Karad also dropped into his office to say, “Shut down the operations or pay Rs 2 crore”.
On Tuesday, Karad was charged under MCOCA, and on Wednesday, the Beed district court sent him to seven days in police custody. Karad is accused of links with the alleged extortion and Deshmukh’s murder.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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