Maharashtra minister Sanjay Rathod resigns from Cabinet over Pooja Chavan death case

Maharashtra Forest Minister Sanjay Rathod on Sunday submitted his resignation to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray amid controversy over Pooja Chavan death case.

Sanjay Rathod made the announcement after submitting his resignation to CM Uddhav Thackeray, who is also the president of his Shiv Sena party.

"There has been a lot of dirty politics over the issue of the woman's death," Sanjay Rathod said, adding he has quit the ministry so that the truth can come out.

After meeting CM Uddhav Thackeray at his official residence, Sanjay Rathod said he had resigned to facilitate a free and fair probe.

"Attempts were made to tarnish my image and destroy my reputation I had built after 30



years of socialwork. I was saying that let the probe happen before taking any decision. But the opposition threatened to disrupt the budget session," Sanjay Rathod said.

Maharashtra Pradesh Congress committee spokesperson Sachin Sawant, in a tweet, said CM Uddhav Thackeray has accepted the resignation of Sanjay Rathod from the Cabinet. He said that an "impartial investigation" will be underway in the Pooja Chavan death case and those responsible will be "punished".

In the tweet, Sachin Sawant also hit out at the BJP and claimed that the party which "backed rapists in Kathua, Unnao and Hathras must answer why PM Narendra Modi did not take the resignation of rape-accused former minister Nihal Chand".