Shindes slam Raut over alleged links to Amit Salunkhe
Salunkhe is also the director of Sumeet Facilities Ltd, which operates the ambulance network via the emergency 108 number across the state. According to Raut, Salunkhe bagged several contracts in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) when Eknath Shinde was chief minister in the previous Mahayuti government, implying lack of transparency in these contracts.
The father-son duo retaliated, saying Raut was himself linked to various scams and dared him to provide proof to support his allegations against them. In turn, Raut has urged chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to appoint a special investigation team (SIT) to probe Salunkhe's alleged links to the Shindes.
Raut had on Friday alleged that Salunkhe had bagged the contract to run the state government's 108 ambulance service and had donated to the Shrikant Shinde Medical Foundation.
Addressing the media in Kolhapur on Saturday, Shrikant Shinde said, 'Who is Sanjay Raut? I don't know him. Anyone while making allegations should present proof. We are not bound to answer these baseless allegations.' Eknath Shinde too refuted Raut's charges, saying, 'The one who is facing allegations of corruption is making allegations on others,' he said.
Meanwhile, Raut on Saturday claimed that apart from the ambulance service contract, the Shindes had allegedly helped Salunkhe secure contracts for several other services in the MMR, such as a waste management contract in the Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation.
'The links between the Shinde father-and-son duo with Salunkhe is not a simple matter, and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis should look into it seriously. If Fadnavis cannot fathom the seriousness of the matter, he should forget that he is CM of Maharashtra,' said Raut. He claimed that Fadnavis has a penchant for appointing SITs. 'So he should appoint an SIT to probe the links between the Shindes and Salunkhe.'
In a statement on Saturday, a spokesperson of Sumeet Facilities denied any connection to the Shinde family. 'Neither our company, our director, nor his family members have any links – direct or indirect – with any political party or political figure. Any insinuation to the contrary is wholly inaccurate and deserves to be ignored.'
The statement added, 'Regarding the ambulance project '108', a public interest litigation (PIL) was dismissed by the Bombay High Court on 8th April 2025. The HC confirmed that the entire tender process conducted by the Government of Maharashtra was fair, transparent, and legally sound. All allegations of cost escalation were found to be meritless and unsubstantiated.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
3 hours ago
- Indian Express
In 10 years, train accidents down by 77% in 2024-25, Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw tells Lok Sabha
Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw told Lok Sabha on Wednesday that railway accidents had come down by 77 per cent in 10 years — from 135 in 2014-15 to 31 in 2024-25 — as the Narendra Modi-led government was prioritising safety measures. He added that there was a constant effort to use new technologies to ensure the safety of trains. Vaishnaw said that Kavach, a technology-intensive automatic train protection system, was commissioned under the Make-in-India initiative within a short period, while many developed countries took a few decades to move towards automatic train protection systems despite having a smaller railway network than India. He said that the Kavach version 4.0 would be commissioned fully in a day on the Kota-Mathura track. He added that as Kavach technology required an extensive optical fibre network, a 5,856 km-long optical fibre network had been laid, 619 telecom towers installed, 708 stations equipped with data centres, and 1,107 locomotives installed with a software system. Kavach is operational on 4,000 kilometers of railway track, he said. Vaishnaw was replying to a question posed by Bhumare Sandipanrao Asaram, Shiv Sena MP from Aurangabad in Maharashtra, during the Question Hour. Vaishnaw had faced the heat last year after a stampede at the New Delhi Railway Station claimed 18 lives during the Mahakumbh, leading to demands for his resignation from the Opposition. While the Opposition flagged multiple train mishaps during his tenure, the deadliest train accident under Vaishnaw's leadership was the 2023 Odisha train collision on June 2 near Bahanaga Bazar station, which claimed the lives of 296 people and injured over 1,200 when the Coromandel Express collided with a stationary freight train, and then hit another train.
News18
5 hours ago
- News18
Asia Cup 2025 'Why play cricket with Pakistan?' Shiv Sena (UBT) & Congress Slam Govt
| 'Why play cricket with Pakistan?' Shiv Sena (UBT) & Congress slam govt as PM says Operation Sindoor is still onPriyanka Chaturvedi calls it shameful; Deependra Hooda also questions the decision. | @GrihaAtul @AmanKayamHai_ @_pallavighosh
Hindustan Times
8 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
HC fines Shiv Sena leader for PIL over darshan fees at Trimbakeshwar temple
MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Monday imposed a fine of ₹1 lakh on Lalita Shinde, Nashik taluka president of the ladies wing of Shiv Sena and a former trustee of the Trimbakeshwar Temple Trust, which manages the Trimbakeshwar temple in Nashik, for misusing the legal process to settle a personal score and failing to disclose material facts (Shutterstock) The division bench of chief justice Alok Aradhe and justice Sandeep Marne was hearing Shinde's plea challenging the ₹200 fee levied by the trust for VIP darshans. Shinde claimed that the trust had no authority to regulate the entry of devotees into the temple or charge any fee for darshans as the property belonged to the Archaeological Survey of India. She approached the court after raising the issue at multiple forums such as the Archeological Survey of India and the Charity Commissioner. The temple trust opposed the plea on the ground that not only was there a delay of nine years in challenging the decision to levy a fee for VIP darshans, Shinde too had participated in the decision making process. Moreover, she was the sister of Kailash Namdeo Palekar (Deshmukh), trustee of the Tungar Mandali Trust which was functioning illegally in the temple premises, and her plea sought to create hurdles in the functioning of the temple with the ulterior motive of supporting the Tungar Mandali Trust, the Trimbakeshwar Temple Trust claimed. 'The petition is clearly aimed at settling scores with the current managing committee (of the temple),' the court observed, saying Shinde had specifically prayed for handing over the management of the temple to another trust. Shinde had also concealed her involvement with other trusts such as the Dwarkadish Jagatguru Shankararcharya Swami Swarupanandji Nirmit Hingalaj Sena, the Trimbakeshwar Devasthan Trust, and the Sant Nivruttinath Samadhi Trust, the court noted. 'Jurisdiction of this court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India is both equitable and discretionary. The same cannot be permitted to be misused, especially in public interest, for the purpose of espousing private interest of the petitioner. We find filing of the present petition by the petitioner to be a gross abuse of process of law,' the court remarked while imposing the fine on Shinde.
