Mumbai, 21 Oct

NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule on Monday claimed the ruling Shiv Sena "removed" an accused in the journalist Gauri Lankesh murder case from the party fold temporarily until elections are over.

Amid backlash, the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday stayed the appointment of the accused, Shrikant Pangarkar, to any post in the party in Jalna district.

Pangarkar, who was granted bail by the Karnataka High Court in September, joined the Shiv Sena on Friday in the presence of party leader and former minister Arjun Khotkar, ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly polls.

A statement from the Shiv Sena on Sunday said that if Pangarkar has been given any party post in Jalna district, the decision has been stayed.

Sule stated that the so-called action of Shiv Sena vis-a-vis Pangarkar was limited to the election period. "An accused in the Gauri Lankesh murder case was inducted into the party (Shiv Sena) and has been removed. But this would not suffice. The veil of morality has been lifted just for the election time. After polls, such goons will be inducted again," Sule tweeted on X.

Lankesh was shot dead outside her home in Bengaluru on 5 September, 2017.

A probe by police in Karnataka with assistance from agencies in Maharashtra led to the arrest of several persons.

Pangarkar, a Jalna municipal councillor of the undivided Shiv Sena between 2001 and 2006, was arrested in August 2018. The Karnataka High Court granted him bail on 4 September this year. -PTI