BJP leader Murlidhar Mohol.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Mumbai: Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation and Cooperation Murlidhar Mohol, who is BJP’s Pune MP, has landed in a major trouble because of charges of alleged corruption levelled by Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena’s leader and former MLA Ravindra Dhangekar and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi.
The issue has added to the friction between the BJP and Shiv Sena, its regional ally.
A former Congress MLA from Kasba Peth in Pune, Dhangekar has lost the 2024 elections from Pune against Mohol. However, later he left Congress to join Shinde, the Deputy Chief Minister.
A Maratha, hailing from a family of wrestlers, Mohol comes from a RSS background and was Mayor of Pune from November 2019-March 2022, the period when the Covid-19 pandemic was at its peak.
The controversy erupted from the Seth Hirachand Nemchand Smarak Trust’s (SHNT) Jain Boarding House at Model Colony in Shivajinagar in Pune.
Farmers’ leader and former MP Raju Shetti, who is from the Jain community has alleged that Mohol was involved in the matter of the proposed sale of a prime property belonging to the Seth Hirachand Nemchand Jain Digambar Boarding to a private builder.
After Shetti, Dhangekar fired several salvos against the union minister and also sent a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The property in Model Colony, measuring around 12,000 square metres (3.5 acres ), houses a several-decade-old Jain boarding facility and the Shri Bhagwan Mahavir Digambar Jain Temple, both of which are part of the Seth Hirachand Nemchand Smarak Trust, a charitable trust established in 1958.
The property has been acquired by Pune-based Gokhale Constructions for Rs 311 crore from Seth Hirachand Nemchand Memorial Trust.
Mohol, however, has denied the charges. “There were two LLPs with Gokhale – both were partnership firms. In 2023, Vishal Gokhale created two LLPs. In 2024, when I withdrew my name, not a single rupee transaction took place between us. I resigned from both LLPs on November 25, 2024. The trustees of Jain Boarding held a meeting on December 16, 2024, where this issue was discussed and they decided to go ahead with redevelopment. Gokhale completed the sale deed with the trustees on October 8, 2025, while I withdrew my name from the LLPs back in 2024, that is 11 months earlier,” said Mohol.
Mohol met Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai on Friday, however, what transpired in the meeting is not known.
Besides, he met members of the Jain community on Saturday, however, had to face protests.
Pune-based activist Vijay Kumbhar also shot off a letter to Modi seeking a probe into the issue. “Serious allegations of irregularities in Pune’s Jain Trust property deal involving Gokhale Landmarks LLP. 3-acre land transaction flouted legal norms, with Rs 70 crore loans from Buldhana & Bireswar Co-op Societies lacking due diligence, hinting at external influence. Mohol, overseeing these societies, is linked to the Gokhale Group via past partnerships and promoted their project, raising conflict of interest concerns. MahaRERA suspended Gokhale’s projects for RERA violations, yet no action was taken,” Kumbhar said.
"I have presented several pieces of evidence and have more," said Dhangekar, adding that he should resign from the central ministry.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Charity Commissioner Amogh Kaloti on Monday had ordered a 'status quo' in the sale of the prime property, housing a several-decades-old Jain boarding facility and a Mahavir Digambar Jain Temple.
“For the BJP, society doesn't matter; only elections are important. Once the elections are over, their true colors will show again—this Pune residents and the Jain community should keep in mind,” said Congress Legislature Party leader Vijay Wadettiwar.