An accused in the sensational murder of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh is contesting the January 15 Jalna Municipal Corporation polls in Maharashtra as an independent candidate.
Shrikant Pangarkar is in the fray from ward 13. His opponents are candidates from the BJP and several other parties, though the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has not fielded a contestant.
Amid row, Shinde cancels Gauri Lankesh murder accused’s appointment in Shiv Sena
Incidentally, ahead of the November 2024 Assembly elections, Pangarkar had joined the Shiv Sena. However, following an outcry, Shinde kept his induction into the party in abeyance.
Gauri Lankesh was shot dead outside her residence in Bengaluru, Karnataka, on September 5, 2017, a murder that made national headlines, triggering a fierce debate over liberalism, secularism and communalism in the backdrop of the political change in the country since 2014.
