Gauri Lankesh Murder Accused Shrikant Pangarkar Rejoins Shiv Sena Ahead Of Maharashtra Election

Mumbai: Shrikant Pangarkar, an accused in the 2017 murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh, has joined the Shiv Sena party led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde . The move came up ahead of the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections, which have drawn a high political contest between the allies of ruling Mahayuti and the Opposition MVA. The INDI parties have also raised questions over the move, given Pangarkar's past involvement in the crime.

Pangarkar, a former municipal councillor, was arrested in August 2018 in connection with Lankesh's murder. He was granted bail by the Karnataka High Court on September 4 this year. Earlier, Pangarkar, after being denied a ticket by the Shiv Sena in 2011, joined the right-wing Hindu Janjagruti Samiti and now he joined the Shinde-led Shiv Sena on Friday in the presence of party leader and former state minister Arjun Khotkar.

“Pangarkar is a former Shiv Sainik and has returned to the party. He has been nominated as the chief of the Jalna assembly poll campaign,” Khotkar told reporters.

Pangarkar, after being welcomed back into the Shiv Sena fold has even been nominated as the chief of the Jalna assembly poll campaign.

Shiv Sena leader and former state minister Arjun Khotkar defended the decision, stating that Pangarkar is a former Shiv Sainik who has returned to the party. 

Notably, Gauri Lankesh was shot dead outside her home in Karnataka capital Bengaluru on September 5, 2017.

The Maharashtra assembly polls are scheduled for November 20, and the results will be declared on November 23. The current assembly's term ends on November 26.