Former IAS probationer Puja Khedkar’s father, Dilip Khedkar’s election affidavit has raised doubts about his marital status as he prepares to contest the upcoming Maharashtra elections.
Dilip is contesting the November 20 assembly polls as an Independent from the Ahmednagar South constituency.
In his recent nomination papers, he disclosed that he is divorced in contrast to the affidavit filed during the Lok Sabha election where he declared himself to be married to Manorama Khedkar, as per an India Today report.
He had unsuccessfully contested the general elections this year on a ticket by the Vanchit Bahujan Party from Ahmednagar parliamentary constituency.
In the affidavit filed during the Lok Sabha polls, Dilip disclosed Manorama Khedkar to be his wife and detailed their jointly owned properties. He also described his household as an “undivided Hindu family”.
According to the report, Dilip and Manorama Khedkar had filed for divorce in 2009 at a Pune family court by mutual consent and the separation was finalised on June 25, 2010.
Despite the divorce, the couple is said to be living together in a bungalow in the Baner area of Pune, owned by Manorama Khedkar.
Puja Khedkar was caught in the eye of a storm earlier this year over her selection in the Union Public Service Commission examination for civil services through disability quota based on forged documents. She was suspended by the Union Public Service Commission for allegedly misrepresenting information in her application for the UPSC Civil Services Examination, 2022 to get reservation benefits. She has denied all the charges against her.
During her mock interviews at various academies in Delhi, Puja claimed that her family income was zero because her parents were divorced adding that she lived with her parents. However, in his Lok Sabha elections affidavit, Dilip declared Rs 40 crore worth of properties.