Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena U-turns, suspends Gauri Lankesh murder accused from Jalna campaign chief role

A statement from the Shiv Sena on Sunday clarified that if Pangarkar had been assigned any party role in Jalna, that decision has now been stayed.

The Shiv Sena, led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, has temporarily suspended the appointment of Shrikant Pangarkar, an accused in the 2017 murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh, to any party position in Jalna district, according to a report by PTI.

This decision comes just days after Pangarkar joined the Shinde-led Shiv Sena in the presence of party leader and former state minister Arjun Khotkar.

Khotkar had previously announced that Pangarkar, a former Shiv Sainik, would be appointed as the chief of the Jalna assembly poll campaign. However, a statement from the Shiv Sena on Sunday clarified that if Pangarkar had been assigned any party role in Jalna, that decision has now been stayed.

Gauri Lankesh was shot dead outside her home in Bengaluru on September 5, 2017. A police investigation in Karnataka, supported by agencies in Maharashtra, led to several arrests related to her murder. Pangarkar, who served as a Jalna municipal councillor for the undivided Shiv Sena from 2001 to 2006, was arrested in August 2018 and granted bail by the Karnataka High Court on September 4 of this year.

After being denied a ticket by the Shiv Sena in 2011, Pangarkar joined the right-wing Hindu Janjagruti Samiti. Khotkar expressed his intention to contest the assembly election from Jalna, but noted that seat-sharing discussions within the ruling Mahayuti alliance—which includes the Shiv Sena, BJP, and Ajit Pawar-led NCP—are still ongoing. The current MLA for the seat is Congress' Kailash Gorantyal.

The Maharashtra assembly polls are scheduled for November 20, with results expected to be announced on November 23.