Fadnavis Slams Sena For ‘Dragging’ Ekanth Shinde Into Elvish Yadav’s Case: ‘Absolutely Wrong’

Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday hit out at Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut for ‘dragging’ Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde into the Elvish Yadav snake venom case, saying that it is “absolutely wrong”.

“Whenever Ganeshotsav happens at the CM residence, celebrities come there. I think Elvish Yadav won a reality show at that time, so he must have visited. There were no allegations against him at that time…I think dragging CM into all this is absolutely wrong. If someone does something wrong, they will be punished. But accusing CM is wrong,” Fadnavis told the media.

Earlier in the day, Raut questioned if the threads of the drug trade were linked to the state government led by Eknath Shinde as Elvish – who is accused of allegedly using snake venom at rave parties – visited CM’s residence during Ganesh Chaturthi.

“The biggest drug mafia of this country who sells snake venom, which is used in rave parties. He (Elvish Yadav) went to the CM’s residence. He was welcomed and performed Ganesh Aarti. Are the threads of the drug trade that is happening in Maharashtra connected to the State Government? What is this gathbandhan? Does CM not have intelligence about who comes to your residence? The nation wants to know because this drug case is related to the nation,” he said.

What is the case against Elvish Yadav?

On Thursday, Elvish Yadav, along with five others – identified as Rahul, Titunath, Jayakaran, Narayan, and Ravinath – were booked for providing snake venom for recreational purposes at a party in Delhi-NCR based on a complaint filed by BJP MP Maneka Gandhi’s NGO People for Animals. The Noida Police arrested five people in the case and sent them to judicial custody. However, Yadav has been refuting the allegations and assured cooperation in the probe.

Reacting to the FIR, Elvish Yadav said the allegations are “absolutely baseless and fake”. Issuing a statement, he said, “I will take the responsibility if even 1% of my involvement in this is proved. Media should also stay away from defaming me unless my involvement is probed.”

Meanwhile, Maneka Gandhi has sought an immediate arrest of Yadav, calling it a “grade one wildlife crime” punishable by three years imprisonment.