Mahajans locked in land row

MUMBAI: The Mahajans are in the news again, and for the wrong reasons. MNS-turned-Shiv Sena leader Prakash Mahajan, brother of slain BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, has served a legal notice on his niece Poonam, claiming his share in a 3.5-acre plot given to a trust seven years ago.

“Pramodji handed over the ancestral land at Osmanabad, valued at ` 5 crore today, to the Tapaswi Public Charitable Trust in 2003, without consulting anyone in the family,” said Prakash. “I have sent a legal notice to the trustees in the first week of July,” he said. Poonam Mahajan Rao, Pramod Mahajan’s daughter, is the chairman of the trust.

Nobody had guided Pramod Mahajan when he took the decision, Prakash, who was chairman of the trust eight years ago before Poonam took over, said. “I have sought my share. I have filed an appeal with the Osmanabad SDO, claiming my share of the land. I have a right on it as it is ancestral property. The notices were sent in the first week of July,” he said. Poonam Mahajan was unavailable for comment.

It’s about a trust the late leader had formed. Led by Pramod Mahajan, a group of socially active persons from various professions formed the public charitable trust in 1995 and named it Tapaswi Public Charitable Trust. The Trust patron is Rekha, widow of Pramod Mahajan and Milind Patil, who manages a college in Osmanabad, is secretary. The vice-chairman is Prasad Chandrakantrao Patil, treasurer Sheshadri Venkatesh Dange and members are Savita Anilrao Patil, Nandu Limbaji Gadade, Mukund Shankarrao Patil, Anar Ravindra Salunke and Anandrao Rangnathrao Mahajan. The Trust aims at assisting widows, orphans, handicapped persons, senior citizens and destitute women, promoting rural development, and health and environmental awareness.