Civil Society groups have condemned the nomination of Navinchandra Bandivadekar as the Congress party’s candidate for the upcoming Lok Sabha Polls.
Reports have alleged that Bandivadekar had supported the Sanatan Sanstha, a right-wing outfit that has been linked to the murders of journalist Gauri Lankesh and rationalists MM Kalburgi, Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare. The group is also alleged to have been involved in terror conspiracies.
“We the representatives of secular civil society, are utterly shocked & categorically condemn the fact that the Congress has issued a Lok Sabha ticket to Navinchandra Bandiwadekar, a Sanatan Sanstha supporter, an organisation being investigated for terror and charges of assassinations,” said a statement signed by Feroze Mithiborwala (Bharat Bachao Andolan), Salim Alware (Mahatma Gandhi Vichar Manch), Ravi Bhilane (Lokanche Dost) and Jyoti Badekar (Vidyarthi Bharti).
Bandivadekar was declared party’s candidate from Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra. Following his nomination, photos had emerged which showed Bandiwadekar attending a function in support of Vaibhav Raut, a who was arrested in August 2018 for plotting terror attacks in Maharashtra, reported The Indian Express.
The activists called on the party to uphold the principles of secularism. “We demand that the Congress immediately cancel this ticket. The Congress must remain committed to its founding principles based upon secularism and opposition to religious extremism of all forms.” the statement said.