‘Make MVA fall and trap Eknath Shinde’: Amruta Fadnavis in Whatsapp chat

Whatsapp chats — attached to a chargesheet filed in a bribery-extortion case against Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ wife Amruta Fadnavis — make for interesting reading.

Whatsapp chats — attached to a chargesheet filed in a bribery-extortion case against Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ wife Amruta Fadnavis — make for interesting reading. They reveal that the infamous cricket bookie Anil Jaisinghani said that he had a recording of her, in which Ms. Fadnavis said, “Make MVA [that is, the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition] fall and trap [Chief Minister] Eknath Shinde and Anil Parab [Uddhav Sena leader].”

Mr. Jaisinghani is the father of Anishka, who met Ms. Fadnavis in November 2021, saying that she designed clothes, footwear, and bags. The 27-year-old law student told the State Home Minister’s wife that she does not have a mother and needs to support her family. As per a First Information Report (FIR) filed by Ms. Fadnavis on February 20, Ms Jaisinghani threatened to make Ms. Fadnavis’s voice notes and video clips public if she did not pay her ₹10 crore and get her father’s name cleared from all charges. She also offered a bribe of ₹1 crore to Ms. Fadnavis to clear her father’s name in several cases, which was turned down.

The duo was arrested on March 16, and Ms. Jaisinghani was granted bail on March 27. The chargesheet filed by the Mumbai Police last month has WhatsApp chats between Mr. Jaisinghani and his daughter, and Ms Fadnavis,

One of the WhatsApp messages Mr. Jaisinghani sent to Ms. Fadnavis said, “Last Shivratri you said to make MVA Government fall and how to trap Eknath Shinde and Anil Parab that also I have all recordings and proof don’t worry- Happy Shivratri.” Mr. Jaisinghani is telling Ms. Fadnavis, “My daughter gave you cash in dollars” and he claims to have a video recording of it.

In another chat between the two, Mr. Jaisinghani told Ms. Fadnavis, “We want justice only and nothing else. During the previous government MVA period and in the tenure of Commissioners of Police Hemant Nagrale and Sanjay Pandey, the reinvestigation was done, and both the cases were on the verge of closure as they were bogusly filed on me. Then when the shift in power happened, everyone knew Deven Bharti [special commissioner] will come back in Mumbai Police as he is close to honourable DCM Fadnavis ji. Ask Deven Bharti not to shoot me.”