Mumbai: Rupali Chakankar, chairperson of the Maharashtra State Women’s Commission tendered her resignation after being asked to do so by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday evening.
This was confirmed by sources in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), as reported by The Indian Express.
Rupali came under fire for her alleged links with self-styled godman and astrologer Ashok Kharat, who was arrested from Nashik on charges of sexual assault and rape.
Rupali, on Friday, met director general of police Sadanand Date, and handed over a letter asking for strict action in the Kharat case. In the letter, the Commission directed the police to conduct a “thorough, time-bound and impartial investigation” into the case. She also said the Commission would closely monitor the probe and asked that the Nashik Police Commissioner keep the panel informed about the progress of the investigation.
She then visited Fadnavis and sought a fair probe. This was when she was instructed by the CM to resign. She submitted her resignation to Fadnavis and later held a meeting with deputy chief minister and NCP president Sunetra Pawar.
The opposition in the state turned up
the heat against Rupali after it came to be known that she was a trustee of a Sinnar-based trust headed by Kharat.
Allegations against Kharat, a retired merchant navy officer, are being proved by an SIT. The police claims to have seized a pen drive allegedly containing at least 58 explicit video recordings, adding to the seriousness of the case.
Photographs circulated on social media showed Rupali with Kharat. There was one in which she held an umbrella over his head. She has also been accused of threatening a local reporter who had earlier exposed Kharat.
NCP working president Praful Patel had hinted of action against her earlier on Friday. Describing the Kharat case as extremely serious and disgusting, Patel said stringent action will be taken against those found guilty.
After the photographs surfaced, Shiv Sena UBT spokesperson Sushma Andhare, social activist Anjali Damania and NCP’s Rupali Thombre accused the women’s body chief of indulging in black magic rituals and protecting an individual who was involved in committing atrocities against women.
Rupali Chakankar (43), comes from a farmer’s family in Daund and entered politics after marriage into a politically active family. She began with grassroots work through self-help groups when her mother-in-law was a corporator in Pune.
She joined the NCP women’s wing in 2008 and rose steadily. In July 2019, after Chitra Wagh left the party, she was appointed state president of the NCP women’s wing. She was first appointed chairperson of the commission in October 2021 and reappointed in 2024.