Amid a controversy over a purported audio clip in which she allegedly heard handing a threat to the head priest of the Bhagwangad hill shrine, Sarpanchs of 25 villages located in the vicinity of the shrine in Ahmednagar district on Saturday gave a go-ahead for Maharashtra Minister Pankaja Munde to address a rally at Bhagwangad on the occasion of Dussehra.
On a day when the head priest of the Bhagwangad hill shrine Namdev Shastri Maharaj wrote to Ahmednagar district collector urging him not to permit the woman Minister to address a Dussehra rally at the shrine this year, Pankaja found herself in an unseemly controversy over an audio clip in which she is "threatening" Namdeo Shastri and his supporters for opposing her move to speak at the Dussehra rally.
However, Pankaja heaved a sigh of relief as the Sarpanchs of as many as 25 villages located in the vicinity of Bhagwangad hill shrine adopted a unanimous resolution that she be allowed to address the customary Dussehra rally at the Shrine on Dussehra day on Tuesday.
The Bhagwangad hill Shrine trust had objected to Pankaja addressing the Dussehra at the shrine on the apprehension that her speech would be political in nature.
On her part, Pankaja had made it clear that she would go ahead and address the Dussehra rally at the Bhagwangad hill shrine.
However, what complicated matters for Pankaja was the purported audio clip in which she is heard threatening that false cases would be lodged against the supporters of Namdev Shastri Maharaj in Parli who has opposed her decision to address Dussehra rally at the Shrine on October 11 and that she would decide on "what is to be done with Namdeo Shastry" after the Dussehra rally.
Responding to the audio clip, leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil of the Congress and his counterpart in the Upper House Dhananjay Munde demanded action against Pankaja.