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Former Shiv Sena MLA Harshvardhan Jadhav's residence in Maharashtra's Aurangabad district was vandalised by unidentified persons on Thursday after he allegedly made some demeaning remarks against Uddhav Thackeray at an election rally, police said.
A car and some window panes were damaged in the attack that took place around 1.30 am when Jadhav, who is the son- in-law of state Bharatiya Janata Party chief Raosaheb Danve, was not present at home, they said.
His wife and two sons were in the house at the time of the incident.
Jadhav later said the remarks were made by him "in the flow" of his speech, and that attacking his house during his absence was a reaction to Shiv Sena's defeat from Aurangabad in the Lok Sabha polls held earlier this year.
Jadhav, who is contesting the October 21 state polls as an Independent from Kannad in Aurangabad, at a rally on Wednesday allegedly made some objectionable comments against Thackeray over the induction former Congress minister Abdul Sattar into the Sena, the police official said.
Sattar is the Shiv Sena's nominee from Sillod assembly constituency in the district.
After a purported video of Jadhav's comments went viral on social media, some angry Shiv Sena workers went to CIDCO police station on Wednesday evening and demanded registration of a case against him.
Sena leader and former Aurangabad MP Chandrakant Khaire has said that Jadhav's comments violate the model code of conduct in force for the next week's polls.
On Wednesday evening, Khaire led a Sena delegation to the collector's office here and submitted a representation demanding action against Jadhav for his comments.
"We have given a representation and demanded action against the former MLA. The statements he has given against the Shiv Sena chief violate the model code of conduct," Khaire said.
Another representation demanding action against Jadhav was submitted in the Pundalik Nagar police station by Sena corporator Renukadas Vaidya on late Wednesday night.
"On Thursday, the police administration transferred all these representations to the Pishor police station in Kannad. We have also informed the Election Commission about the matter," Inspector Ashok Giri said.
Around 1.30 am on Thursday, some unidentified persons attacked his residence with stones, damaging a car and window panes, the official said, quoting the complaint filed by the Jadhav's wife.
"We are analysing the area's CCTV footage in which three bike-borne persons are seen throwing stones at Jadhav's residence. Our investigation is underway," police inspector Uttam Mulak said.
Those who attacked the house were shouting slogans like 'Jai Bhawani, Jai Shivaji'," the complainant, Sanjana Jadhav, told reporters.
Security was stepped up at Jadhav's residence and police personnel was also deployed at his another house in the district, the police official said.
Jadhav last year resigned from the Sena after being miffed with the party leadership over the issue of reservations for the Marathas, Dhangars and Muslims.
He later floated his own outfit -- Shiv Swarajya Bahujan Paksh.
He contested the Lok Sabha polls this year as an Independent and stood third by polling over 2.8 lakh votes.
State All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen president Imtiyaz Jaleel won from Aurangabad, defeating his nearest rival Khaire by a narrow margin of 4,492 votes.
Jadhav said he has been a target of the Shiv Sena in the past.
"Shiv Sena leaders have spoken against me and made false statements. My statement, which has hurt the Sena leaders, was a reaction to it and it came out in the flow of the speech," Jadhav told PTI.
"My residence was vandalised when I was not there. This should be seen as a reaction of Sena after the defeat of Khaire in the Lok Sabha polls. Khaire has also made comments against me, saying I killed my father. He is criticising me, saying that a Muslim leader won because of me," Jadhav said.
He also asked the police to take strict action against those who attacked his house.
Shiv Sena's district president and MLC Ambadas Danve said the party workers were angry with Jadhav over his "disgraceful" remarks against Thackeray.
"We will teach him a lesson, but after the elections," he said.
"We are unaware of who attacked his residence. We will not take any action against him right now as he might get sympathy of voters. Hence, we will wait for the polls to conclude," Danve said.