MNS leader forged sign: Ex-corporator

Former MNS corporators Geeta Chavan and her husband Bala Chavan address the media at Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh. (Photo: Rajesh Jadhav)

Former Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) corporator Geeta Chavan has caused quite a flutter after she alleged that party group leader Sandeep Deshpande submitted her resignation from the BMC’s women and child welfare committee by forging her signature.

The corporator, who had recently switched her loyalties to Shiv Sena with her husband, has also filed a complaint at the Azad Maidan police station in this matter.

According to Ms Chavan, when she went to attend the meeting of BMC women and child welfare committee meeting on Friday, October 21, she was told that her resignation has already been submitted on August 23. “The municipal secretary department told me that they had received my resignation. When I checked the resignation letter, I found that my signature was forged. This has been deliberately done by Deshpande since I have left the MNS party.” The corporator from Santa Cruz also said that she decided to quit MNS due to ill treatment from the party leadership. “MNS chief Raj Thackeray never met us and asked why we have taken the decision to quit the party. In the BMC, Deshpande did not take us into confidence on several occasions. He also did not treat the party corporators well,” she complained.

Ms Chavan has threatened to file a defamation case against Mr Deshpande once the police enquiry is over. When asked, Mr Deshpande said it is an attempt to malign the image of MNS. “Ms Chavan is saying that her resignation was submitted on August 23. Why didn’t she raise her voice in the last two months She resigned on her own. The signature forging allegations are totally baseless.” After the debacle in Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections, the MNS is facing exodus in the city with some of the corporators having already left the party, while some are expected to leave soon.