After outrage over Shrikant Pangarkar, an accused in the 2017 murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh nominated as the chief of the Jalna assembly poll campaign, the Shiv Sena has stayed the appointment. Shrikant Pangarkar was arrested in August 2018 and was granted bail by the Karnataka High Court in September 2024, along with three other accused. According to the chargesheet, Shrikant was involved in briefing the accused on the precautions to take before and after the murder and provided legal training to the group. Gauri Lankesh was murdered on September 5, 2017, outside her home in Bengaluru by a group of 18 Hindutva loyalists, with the prime accused being Amol Kale.

A statement released by the party on October 20 said that Shrikant’s appointment had been stayed following directives from Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. All district-level appointments of Shrikant in Jalna were declared null and void by Shinde, who also serves as the Chief Leader of the party. On October 18, Shrikant had been nominated as the chief of the Jalna assembly poll campaign. This appointment, announced in the presence of party leader Arjun Khotkar, sparked controversy due to Shrikant’s involvement in the Gauri murder case.

“Following the directives of Shiv Sena president Eknath Shinde, the appointment of Shrikant Pangarkar on any of the positions in Jalna, has been stayed,” said the order issued by the party secretary Bhausaheb Chaudhary.

Shrikant was appointed in the party soon after Parshuram Waghmore, the man accused of shooting Gauri Lankesh, and co-accused Manohar Yadve, were felicitated by Sangh Parivar and Shri Rama Sene after their release on bail in Vijayapura on October 11.

Shrikant, the son of a BJP worker and former corporator, had a long political career, beginning with the Shiv Sena in 1996 before joining the Hindu Janajagruti Samithi, a right-wing organisation, in 2011.