Badlapur Child Molestation: What Are BJP Links of the School in the Dock?

'Tumhala laaj nahi vaatat?' (Aren't you ashamed of yourself?) You protested for the rights of Hindus in a foreign nation but you could not raise your voice for the little girl from Maharashtra's Thane? Is this because the trustee of the school is from the BJP?" said a banner outside the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Thane district office on Wednesday, 21 August, erected by social activist Ajay Jeya.

Along with picture of several local BJP leaders and party workers protesting against atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh, the banner had a picture of Tushar Sharad Apte, one of the trustees of the school in Badlapur where two minor girls were allegedly molested by a sweeper, an incident that led to widespread outrage and violent protests in Thane on 20 August.

Apte and another trustee Nandkishor Patkar, as leaders of the Opposition's Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) parties claim, are leaders of the BJP.

Moreover, the appointment of senior advocate Ujjwal Nikam to be the public prosecutor has the state's Opposition citing 'conflict of interest' and calling it a move to compromise justice to the survivors. Nikam had unsuccessfully contested the recent Lok Sabha elections from Mumbai on a BJP ticket.

Here's what we know so far about the political links of the school's trustees and the politicking over the matter:

Who is Tushar Sharad Apte?

The day the protests flared on 20 August, former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray while speaking to the media said: "I don't want to do politics on the matter but I have been informed that the trust has links with the BJP. I just want to say that anybody who is responsible must not be spared, irrespective of their affiliation."

According to the website of the Adarsh Vidya Prasarak Sanstha that runs the Adarsh school where the incident took place, Apte has been listed as the 'Secretary' under the list of the board of trustees.

On Apte's Facebook profile, which has been inactive since 2021, he calls himself president of the Ambernath district public welfare committee of the BJP. In most party banners on his Facebook profile, he features with his brother Chetan Sharad Apte, then BJP vice president for Badlapur city

NCP national spokesperson Anish Gawande took to X on Thursday to cite a report by Hindustan Times and said: "Accused in the Badlapur case was a cleaner in trustee's house. Trustee is Tushar Apte, affiliated with the BJP. Firing principal is an eyewash."

The HT report, citing sources in Maharashtra's Mantralaya, claims that the principal of the school told the state government's two-member committee about the accused Akshay Shinde having worked at one of the farmhouses of the Apte family before being employed at the school.

The report also said that the principal claimed to have informed about the parents' complaint to Apte after they met her but he did not act immediately.

In a video message forwarded on Whatsapp and flashed across Marathi TV news channels on Thursday, Apte claimed that the principal had only informed the trust of the survivor being "unwell" at first.

"We came to know about the allegations only on 16 August. On 14 August, the principal had told us that one girl is unwell and crying a lot, so she has called her parents to send her home. We came to know about the whole issue at about 12.30 pm on 16 August when the parents came. We immediately acted. The parents of the second girl were also present. The police was also present," Apte said.

Speaking to The Quint, Nandkishor Gopal Patkar, another trustee and also a BJP leader said: "Apte used to be with the BJP. But during the last nagar parishad elections, he had rebelled and contested independently after being denied a ticket."

Several calls to Apte to confirm the claims and allegations against him went unanswered.

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Nandkishor Patkar: A BJP Member & Trustee of The School

Nandkishor Gopal Patkar, listed as a 'member' of the board of trustees on the website is also a local leader of the BJP.

On one of his several Facebook profiles, Patkar uploaded a video on 18 August condemning the incident and said that he will meet deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis to demand the strictest possible punishment for the accused. In the video, his wife Rati Patkar, vice president of Thane unit of the BJP was also present.

On his Facebook profile, Patkar has pictures of meeting several senior leaders of the BJP including Fadnavis and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari.

Speaking to The Quint, he said: "My father Gopal Patkar, who was a sarpanch of the village in 1960, had approved the transfer of land to the trust that founded the school. The school was formed with the aim of helping children. Whatever has happened is unfortunate and the school will completely cooperate in the investigation."

"It's not like the trust does not have members affiliated to other parties like the Shiv Sena or the Sena (UBT). But politics has never interfered with the school's functioning. It is pointless to discuss these political affiliations and for the Opposition to weaponise them. We ourselves have been asking for the strictest possible punishment for the accused. We want death penalty for him," Patkar said reacting to the MVA's allegations and claims about Apte.

The Row Over Ujjwal Nikam

Ujjwal Nikam, who was appointed as the special public prosecutor of the case, has also been in the line of fire by the MVA for being a leader of the BJP.

While having handled several high-profile cases for the Maharashtra government in both Congress and NDA rule, Nikam is known as the prosecutor who secured a death sentence for Ajmal Kasab, the terrorist captured during the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai in 2008.

Nikam recently contested the Lok Sabha elections on a BJP ticket and lost to Congress leader Varsha Gaikwad from the Mumbai North Central constituency.

Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly, Vijay Wadettiwar said: "The trustees of the board have links to one party and now, the prosecutor appointed is also from the same party? He has even contested an election for them. How can we expect justice? Did you not find any other senior lawyer? If the matter gets sidetracked, who will be responsible?"

Shiv Sena UBT leader Priyanka Chaturvedi asked: "How is it okay to have Ujjwal Nikam ji as a public prosecutor in the Badlapur case? Hasn’t he chosen to be in the BJP? Hasn’t he contested on a BJP ticket in the recently concluded Lok Sabha election and been defeated by Varsha Gaikwad ji?Wasn’t he also appointed amongst 30 as party’s spokesperson to brief the media at 9 am and 4 pm? How can he maintain neutrality in a case where the Home Minister of the BJP, Devendra Fadnavis himself is in the dock?"

"One of the school directors is himself an office bearer of the BJP. It would be grossly unfair to the girls and their family even if the case is tried in the fast track court. Need a PP whose only affiliation is to seek justice for the victims, in this case the 4 year old girls," Chaturvedi wrote on X.

Speaking to India Today, Nikam on Thursday called the Opposition's claims of conflict of interest baseless.

"I am amused. It is true that I contested the election for the Bharatiya Janata Party. But I became a member of the BJP only on the day that I got the ticket. After my defeat, I immediately joined my profession. The profession is completely different than the political interest. Secondly, a public prosecutor presents the case, he does not collect evidence," Nikam said.

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