Maharashtra assembly polls: Journalist Gauri Lankesh murder accused joins Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena

Shrikant Pangarkar, an accused in the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh, has joined Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena in Jalna ahead of assembly polls.

Lankesh, a left-leaning firebrand journalist, was shot dead on the night of September 5, 2017 outside her Rajarajeshwari Nagar residence in Karnataka capital Bengaluru.

Several persons were arrested in connection to the murder after a probe was launched by the Karnataka Police with assistance from agencies in Maharashtra.

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

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.

Khotkar also said Pangarkar wants to contest the assembly poll from Jalna, but added seat sharing discussions in the Mahayuti (ruling alliance comprising Shiv Sena, BJP and Ajit Pawar-led NCP) were still underway.

The seat is held by Congress' Kailash Gorantyal.

Assembly polls in Maharashtra will be held in a single phase on November 20 and results will be declared on November 23.

The term of the current Maharashtra Assembly ends on November 26.

On October 13, key men accused in the Gauri Lankesh murder case were given a rousing welcome by some Hindutva activists on their arrival in their home town Vijayapura.

Parashuram Waghmore and Manohar Yadave were released along with six others on bail on October 9 by a trial court and were released from the jail on October 11.

They all had spent over six years behind the bars.

On their arrival, Hindutva activists took them to a Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's statue where they were welcomed with saffron shawls and garland to the shouts of 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and 'Sanatana Dharma Ki Jai'.