BJP leader sacked over derogatory comments on Shivaji: Shripad Chindam to be shifted out of Ahmednagar jail, protests rage on

Shiv Sena members protest against the comments made by sacked BJP leader. (Express Photo)

Shripad Chindam, the former Ahmednagar deputy mayor who was arrested for making derogatory statements about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, was on Saturday remanded in judicial custody till March 1. Chindam had been fired by his party, the BJP, and removed from the deputy mayor’s post in the Ahmednagar Municipal Corporation after an audio clip of his comments went viral on Friday. Initially, Chindam was shifted to the Ahmednagar jail, but later, prison authorities submitted a letter to the court, seeking permission to shift him to Yerwada Central Prison in Pune or Nashik Central Jail. While some media reports claimed that Chindam was being shifted because he was beaten up by some inmates in Ahmednagar prison, authorities denied such reports. They said some prisoners at Ahmednagar jail had raised slogans against him.

A senior prison official said Chindam was being shifted because of the lack of a segregated facility at Ahmednagar jail. Chindam had made the derogatory comments while abusing a civic staffer over the phone on Friday morning. The incident had triggered violent protests in Ahmednagar, where protesters had ransacked Chindam’s residence, offices and hotel in the city.

Meanwhile, after a photograph of Chindam in an uniform of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) went viral on social media, the RSS issued a statement condemning him and demanding stern action against him. Corporators in Ahmednagar Municipal Corporation also launched a signature campaign — to remove Chindam from the post of a corporator — and a letter in this regard was submitted to the municipal commissioner.

Meanwhile, members of various outfits continued to stage protests against Chindam in Pune on Saturday. While members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad burnt photos of Chindam in the premises of the Savitribai Phule Pune University, Shiv Sena members carried out a symbolic “funeral” of the former BJP leader in Hadapsar, and MNS activists hanged effigies of his at various junctions in the city.