Bharatiya Janata ‘Petrol Pump’ Party

In some states, the Congress—and even bureaucrats—got a slice but clearly, the ruling party’s workers ran away with the cake.

To jog memories, the Supreme Court passed severe strictures on a petition filed by Common Cause based on a report in The Indian Express in 1995, “In Satish Sharma’s reign, petrol and patronage flow together.’’

That was on how the then Petroleum Minister used his ‘‘discretionary quota’’ to allot petrol pump dealerships. ‘‘A minister cannot commit breach of the trust reposed in him by the people…The allotments made by him were wholly mala fide…Lack of transparency promotes nepotism and arbitrariness. A transparent and objective procedure has to be evolved.’’ This was Justice Kuldip Singh in 1996.

Perhaps, six years is too short a time for things to change.

PART -I: MAHARASHTRA

1. Sunita Phundkar: Allotted a petrol pump at Nandura, Buldhana district. Her husband is state BJP chief Pandurang Phundkar. ‘‘If I had to use my influence as a BJP leader, I would not have waited for such a long period and, instead, would have secured a number of petrol pumps,’’ said Phundkar.
2. Mukund Kulkarni: Pump at Palm Beach in Nerul. He’s the BJP office secy. ‘‘I was allotted the petrol pump in a routine course. Following my application, I was called for an interview and selected’’, he says.
3. Sreenivas Madhavrao Vaidya: LPG agency in Wardha. His father is RSS spokesman M G Vaidya. Sreenivas says: ‘‘I hadn’t told him I was applying, I fulfil all the conditions.’’

4. Suryakant Khaire: Pump at Devashi Pimpalgaon, Aurangabad. Khaire is the brother of Sena MP Chandrakant Khaire
5. Chandrakant Diwate and Vivek Kapgade: Pump at Lakhandur, Bhandara district. Chandrakant’s father was a BJP MP from Bhandara, Vivek’s father an MLA from Lakhandur.
6. Vishnu Sawara: Pump at Kudus in Thane. He’s the BJP MLA from Wada
7. Anusuya Kamat: Pump in Mumbai. Wife of BJP leader Ratnakar Kamat (who lost the ’99 Assembly polls from Kandivli), a trusted aide of Ram Naik’s
8. Abhijit Phadnavis: Pump at Gondpimpri in Chandrapur. His mother Shobhatai is BJP legislator from Mul in Chandrapur district
9. Sarala Kambale: Pump at Khandavi, Solapur district. Wife of sitting Cong MP from Osmanabad district Shivaji Kambale
10. Vijaya Dhote: Pump at Ghatanji, Yavatmal district. Her husband is Shiv Sena leader Jambuwantrao Dhote, ex-MP from Nagpur
11. Pratibha Salvi: Pump at Pali (Vashind) in Thane. She’s the wife of senior BJP leader Rajaram Salvi
12. Pratap Adsad: Pump at Badnera in Amravati district. Adsad’s father Arunbhau is BJP MLA from Dhamangaon
13. Yogesh Godambe: Pump at Wadala truck terminal in Mumbai. Yogesh is the son of Dilip Godambe, president of the BJP’s Mumbai North-Central unit
14. Anjali Karad: Pump in Aurangabad. Her husband, BJP leader Bhagwat Karad, is a former Mayor of Aurangabad
15. Sunil Gudhe: Petrol pump at Anjangaon in Amravati. His brother Anant Gudhe is a Sena MP
16. Anandrao Adsul: Pump at Jogeshwari (East), Mumbai. Adsul is a Shiv Sena MP
17. Vijaya S Sancheti: LPG agency at Lonar in Buldhana. Vijaya is a relative of BJP MLA Chainsukh Sancheti
18. Sapna Munganttiwar: LPG agency at Ballarpur in Chandrapur. Sapna’s husband Sudhir is a BJP MLA
19. Kanchan R Vadu: Pump at Dohale in Thane. Vadu was a BJP candidate in the 1999 Assembly elections
20. Jaiprakash Thakur: Pump at Ghatkopar-Mankhurd in Mumbai. Thakur is BJP state gen secy
21. Dhananjay Munde: Petrol pump at Sirur, Beed district. Nephew of Gopinath Munde, he’s facing a writ before the Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court regarding his allotment.
22. Ashok Mahadeorao Nete: Pump at Kurkheda in Gadchiroli. Nete is a BJP MLA
23. Krishna Govardhan Sharma: LPG agency in Akola. Sharma’s father Goverdhan is a former MLA
24. Vikram Ganpatrao Gojamgunde: Pump in Latur. He was the BJP candidate against Vilasrao Deshmukh in the 1999 Assembly elections
25. Yogesh Rathi: LPG agency at Nandgaopet in Amravati. His father is BJP activist Navalkishore Rathi
26. Swapnil Khanorkar: LPG agency in Bhandara. His father is BJP activist Ramesh Khanorkar
27. Rajesh Tandulkar: LPG agency at Ramtek in Nagpur. Rajesh is the son of Nagpur Rural BJP President Narayan Tandulkar
28. Prasanna Paturkar: LPG agency in Amravati. Prasanna’s father Vishnu Paturkar is a senior office-bearer of the BJP Yuva Morcha
29. Sachin Yadav: LPG agency in Hadapsar in Pune. He’s the son of former Pune BJP chief Shankarrao Yadav. Sachin said the government’s rules did not say that the agency should not be given to a BJP worker
30. Panduran Kulkarni: LPG agency in Tingrenagar in Pune. Was a prominent leader of Patit Pawan Sanghatana, a militant Hindu outfit, which merged with the BJP a few months ago. Says the BJP has nothing to do with his agencies, he got it on merit
31. Amar Sable: LPG agency in Pune. Sable is in charge of publicity in the BJP’s scheduled caste cell. Says he was wanted a petrol pump but had to be satisfied with an LPG agency.
32. Manoj Dhore: LPG agency in Pimpri Chinchwad, Pune district. He’s the son of former BJP MLA Rooplekha Dhore. Says he was an educated unemployed (‘‘I had even registered with the Employment Exchange’’) and his mother’s political affiliations did not in way help him get the agency
33. Shailendra Tupe: Kerosene agency in Velhe, Pune district. Son of prominent Bharatiya Kisan Sangh leader Dnyaneshwar ‘Mauli’ Tupe
34. Nitin Deshpande: LPG agency in Karad. Son of Govind alias Rajabhau Deshpande, senior BJP leader from Karad in Satara district
35. Vishwanath Dange: Petrol pump at Palus, Sangli district. Son of Annasaheb Dange, Minister in the last government and current leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Council. “I have been trying to get a petrol pump since 1994. Now I have got it. My father has nothing to do with it”
36. Narendra Suryawanshi: LPG agency at Sangli. Nephew of BJP district president Babasaheb Suryawanshi. “I have been trying to get an LPG agency since 1995 and got it on merit after completing all the procedures. My uncle happens to be a BJP leader but it could not disqualify me from getting the agency”
37. Sukhada Mahajan: LPG agency at Shirala in Sangli district. Wife of BJP’s Shirala taluka president Sumant Mahajan. He says: ‘‘My wife got the agency because our family had lost land when the Morna dam was being built. The BJP or my political position has nothing to do with it.’’
38. Hitendra Ahir : Pump at Ghughus, Chandrapur district. He’s a relative of Hansraj
Ahir, BJP Lok Sabha candidate from Chandrapur in 1999 elections
39. Vijay Thaware: LPG agency at Arjuni in Bhandara. He’s the son of senior BJP leader Laxman Thaware
40. Anita Pandey: Pump at Hingna in Nagpur. Her husband is BJP activist O P Pandey
41. Savita Jadhav: Superior Kerosene Oil/Light Diesel Oil outlet in Washim. She is the wife of Shiv Sena activist Sunil Jadhav
42. Vilas Nakade: LPG agency at Chimur in Chandrapur. He is the son of BJP activist Keshaorao Nakade.
43. Smita Rajankar: LPG agency at Telhara in Akola. She is related to senior BJP leader Mukund Rajankar
44. Amit Sude: Superior Kerosene Oil/Light Diesel Oil outlet in Aurangabad. His father is BJP activist Bhagwanrao Sude
45. Laxmikant Patil: Pump at Bharadi in Aurangabad. His father is RSS activist Madhavrao Patil
46. Sunil Patil: Pump at Varangaon in Jalgaon. He’s the son of BJP activist Narayan Patil
47. Kiran Kasat: Pump at Brahmawadi in Beed. Father is BJP leader Jugalkishore Kasat
48. Mahendra Kalantri: Pump at Telgaon Phata in Beed. His father is BJP leader Shrikrishan Kalantri
49. Manoj Nawale: Pump at Rahuri in Ahmadnagar. His father is BJP activist Sakharam Nawale
50. Jyoti Kendre: Pump at Ambajogai in Beed. She’s the wife of BJP leader Pradeep Kendre
51. Jayant Dandekar: Pump at Saphale in Thane. His father, V R Dandekar, is a trusted aide of Ram Naik
52. Asha Gaikwad: LPG agency at Dharur in Beed. She’s a close relative of BJP MP Jaisingh Gaikwad
53. Ravindra Yedke: LPG agency at Bidkin in Aurangabad. He’s the son of BJP leader Baburao Yedke
54. Balasaheb Kshirsagar: LPG agency at Bhum in Osmanabad. He’s a senior BJP leader.
55. Vithal Gangurde: LPG agency at Malegaon in Nasik. His father is BJP leader Baburao Gangurde
56. Anjana Bhoye: LPG agency at Sakri in Dhule. She’s the daughter of BJP leader Shravan Bhoye
57. Rohini Kamble: LPG agency at Mukhed in Nanded. She’s the wife of senior BJP leader Uttam Kamble
58. Prashant Mahajan: Pump at Mal Tekdiin Amravati. Mahajan is a senior office-bearer of the BJP Yuva Morcha
59. Shriram Idate: Pump at Dapoli, Ratnagiri. His father is senior RSS leader Bhikuji Idate. He says his father’s position has nothing to do with the pump; his father merely lectured him on possible questions that may be asked during the interview for selecting pump allotees.
60. Girish Avhad: Pump at Wagholi on Pune-Ahmednagar road. He’s the son of state BJP Nomadic Tribes cell president Navnath Avhad. Girish says he’s a qualified engineer and got the pump from open category though he is an OBC
61. Shirish Kirad: LPG agency in Hadapsar in Pune. He’s the son of Bhanudas Kirad, a Sangh Parivar leader who died recently. Shirish denies his father’s connections had anything to do with the pump