Ias Puja Khedkar and family
Dilip Khedkar, father of sacked IAS officer Pooja Khedkar, is once again in the news. After losing the Lok Sabha elections, Khedekar is now trying his luck in the Maharashtra Assembly elections. Dilip Khedkar will contest as an independent candidate from Shevgaon Assembly. He filed his nomination papers on Tuesday.
Dilip Khedkar had earlier contested the Lok Sabha elections from Ahmednagar seat as a candidate of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), but he lost the election. Not only that, Dileep and his wife Manorama Khedekar were also accused of criminal intimidation. But this time he did not mention anything about his wife in his election affidavit. However, during the Lok Sabha elections, he revealed the details of his wife Manorama Khedekar.
Case registered against wife Manorama Khedkar
His wife Manorama Khedkar was accused of showing a gun to a farmer in Pune district in June 2023 over a land dispute. However, in July thereafter, a court in Pune granted anticipatory bail to Dilip Khedkar in the case. Not only that, serious accusations were also made against his daughter Pooja Khedkar.
Pooja Khedkar has been accused of wrongly availing the OBC (Other Backward Classes) “non-creamy layer” reservation of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), claiming that her parents are separated. Based on this assertion, he secured his seat in IAS by availing OBC and disability quota.
The central government has rejected
However, the central government in an order dated September 6, 2024, dismissed him under the IAS Rules, 1954. Further, UPSC canceled his candidature and barred him from appearing for future examinations. The issue developed further when RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar took to social media to question the marital status of the family. He said that during the Lok Sabha elections, Dilip and Manorama Khedekar had given information as a married couple but when the issue of caste certificates arose, they were presented separately. Currently, Dilip Khedkar has not mentioned his wife even in his affidavit for the assembly elections.
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