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Pune: Veteran politician Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil has become the third minister, after Dhananjay Munde and Manikrao Kokate, in the Mahayuti cabinet to be in the line of the opposition's fire after being named in an FIR in connection with an alleged bank loan fraud case. Loni police in Ahilyanagar have registered a case against Vikhe Patil, the state water resources minister, and 53 others on the charge of cheating and conniving with then officials of two banks and forging documents to secure loans of over Rs 8 crore between 2004 and 2006. You Can Also Check: Pune AQI | Weather in Pune | Bank Holidays in Pune | Public Holidays in Pune Earlier this year, NCP's Munde had resigned over the controversy surrounding the Massajog sarpanch murder case.
Kokate, also from the same party, faced conviction in an alleged housing scam case. However, a court subsequently stayed the conviction. Opposition parties had in both cases pressed for the two ministers' resignation.
They have now again raised a pitch seeking the resignation of BJP's Vikhe Patil. It is also a kind of history being repeated for chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. In his earlier tenure as the CM in 2014, three cabinet ministers — Eknath Khadse, Vinod Tawde, and Pankaja Munde — had faced allegations.
Khadse was then removed from the cabinet, and he subsequently left BJP, while Tawde and Munde's portfolios were changed. Now, within five months of the Mahayuti govt's second term, three senior members in the Fadnavis-led cabinet are in the dock. Of them, Munde lost the cabinet post after his close associate Valmik Karad was arrested in the Massajog sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh murder case.
Agriculture minister Kokate and his brother, Vijay, were convicted and handed two years of rigorous imprisonment for securing a flat each in 1995 under the state govt's 10% housing quota for economically weaker section by fudging documents to show less income. Kokate got a brief relief after a court stayed the conviction. When Vikhe Patil's name was mentioned in the FIR, the opposition was quick to demand his resignation.
Shiv Sena (UBT) Sanjay Raut on Wednesday said: "When the FIR has been registered following directions of the Supreme Court, Vikhe Patil should immediately be removed from the cabinet on moral grounds. He is facing charges of swindling farmers' money. The opposition should maintain the pressure on govt till he resigns.
The chief minister should not speak about transparent and corruption-free governance anymore." NCP (SP)'s Nilesh Lanke said: "When the custodians of the state are siphoning off money, what can we expect from govt that is making tall claims of good governance? I will take up the issue in the next parliament session and will keep demanding his resignation." State Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal also joined his MVA partners and demanded Vikhe Patil's resignation.
Vikhe Patil said he was ready to face any inquiry in connection with the FIR filed against him and 53 others of the Padmashri Vikhe Patil Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana at Pravaranagar. He told reporters in Ahilyanagar that the case was over for him in 2019 "when the Supreme Court made it clear that no criminal case was made out as per the enquiry report submitted to it". Vikhe Patil is from a political heavyweight family from Ahilyanagar, which has kept its influence in state politics for over four generations.
Originally from Congress Party, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil's grandfather, Vitthalrao Vikhe Patil, was instrumental in setting up the first cooperative sugar factory in the then Ahmednagar. His father, Balasaheb Vikhe Patil, was a Union minister. Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil himself is active in politics for over 30 years.
Starting his political career with Congress, he joined BJP in 2019. His son Sujay also entered politics and represented Ahmednagar in the Lok Sabha after the 2019 election. He lost the seat in 2024.
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