Vijay Pandhare

Vijay Pandhare is a former bureaucrat from Maharashtra, India. He was the Chief Engineer of the Water Resources Department and a member of the state level technical advisory committee.[2] He is state executive committee Member at Aam Aadmi Party Maharashtra.

Vijay Balwant Pandhare
NationalityIndian
Occupation(s)Chief engineer, irrigation department[1]
EmployerGovernment of Maharashtra[1]
Known forWhistleblower in Maharashtra Irrigation Scam 2012[1]
Political partyAam Aadmi Party

Whistle blowing

Pandhare is a whistleblower who wrote to the chief minister of the state of Maharashtra and its governor alleging irregularities and cost inflation in irrigation projects. The controversy raised by these communications caused the deputy chief minister of the state Ajit Pawar to resign. In his letters he pointed out that Rs 120 billion[3] spent on lift irrigation projects in the state are a total waste as around 99 per cent of the total 227 projects in Maharashtra are not working and 90 per cent never began functioning.

Pandhare, in a letter to other engineers, alleged that corruption can be controlled by curtailing the powers. The irregularities were so serious Pandhare alleged that the government was "...playing with people's lives".[4]

Political career

In December 2013, after his retirement from active service, Pandhare joined the Aam Aadmi party (AAP).[5]

He unsuccessfully fought the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Nashik, losing his deposit. He secured sixth position with 9,672 votes, losing to Hemant Godse, who got 494,735 votes.[6][7] Even before the election results were announced, he relocated to Buldhana, and declared that he won't contest elections any more. He claimed that "more than 98% of the people" associated with AAP did it merely for publicity.[8]

References
  1. Naik, Yogesh (26 September 2012). "Warrior duo that sunk Ajit Pawar". Mumbai Mirror. Archived from the original on 28 September 2012. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
  2. "Maharashtra's irrigation scam: Meet the whistleblower Vijay Pandhare". Daily Bhaskar. 27 September 2012. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
  3. "Reservoir of corruption". Down To Earth.
  4. Iyer, Kavitha (2 October 2012). "DNA investigation: Vijay Pandhare letter opens floodgates". Daily News and Analysis. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
  5. "Maharashtra irrigation scam whistleblower Vijay Pandhare joins AAP". The Times of India. 1 December 2013. Archived from the original on 4 December 2013.
  6. "Constituency-wise results: Nashik". Election Commission of India. 22 May 2014.
  7. "Election Results: Bhujbal beaten, MNS wiped out". The Times of India. 17 May 2014.
  8. Krishna Kumar (20 May 2014). "Poll defeats shock Maharashtra AAP leaders". Economic Times.
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