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New Delhi: Shrikant Pangarkar, one of the 17 men accused in the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh in Karnataka almost a decade ago, whose candidature in the Maharashtra municipal election from Jalna became controversial, has won, securing 2,621 votes. He defeated his closest rival in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by 144 votes and left candidates of all other parties – except the Shiv Sena, which did not field a candidate on Ward 13 where he contested – behind in the race.

The Shiv Sena, Pangarkar’s old party, is said to have supported his independent candidature in the Jalna election. However, in media interviews, Pangarkar has denied this, while leaving a future return to the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde, the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, open.

His victory from Jalna means he will serve as a corporator (member) of the Jalna municipal corporation council, representing Ward 13-D.

Pangarkar’s past connection with the Shiv Sena is well documented. He was a corporator with the party from 2001 to 2006, long before it was split into factions, and briefly attempted to rejoin the Shinde-led Shiv Sena in 2024. The idea had to be dropped due to widespread anger over the serious charge he faced, of murdering Lankesh, who was unarmed when she was shot dead outside her home on September 5, 2017.

The fact that no candidate was fielded against him by Shinde’s party reportedly helped him secure Friday’s victory, after which he was seen celebrating with supporters.

Nearly a decade after Lankesh’s murder, the case against Pangarkar (and all the other accused) remains pending in the trial stage in Bengaluru, Karnataka, where the killing occurred. The state government had set up a Special Investigative Team (SIT) to probe the killing, conducted in broad daylight by bike-borne men (the

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