Vijay Pandhare is a former bureaucrat from

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

, India. He was the

chief engineer A chief engineer, commonly referred to as "Chief" or "ChEng", is the most senior licensed mariner (engine officer) of an engine department on a ship, typically a merchant ship, and holds overall leadership and the responsibility of that departmen ...

of the

Water Resources Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. These resources can be either Fresh water, freshwater from natural sources, or water produ ...

Department and a member of the state-level technical advisory committee. He is state executive committee member at

Aam Aadmi Party The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP, ) is a List of political parties in India, political party in India. It was founded on 26 November 2012 by Arvind Kejriwal and his then-companions, following the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement against then gover ...

Maharashtra.

Whistle blowing

Pandhare is a

whistleblower Whistleblowing (also whistle-blowing or whistle blowing) is the activity of a person, often an employee, revealing information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe, unethical or ...

who wrote to the chief minister of the state of

and its governor alleging irregularities and cost inflation in irrigation projects. The controversy raised by these communications caused the deputy chief minister of the state

Ajit Pawar Ajit Anantrao Pawar (Marathi pronunciation: �d͡ʒit̪ pəʋaːɾ born 22 July 1959) is an Indian politician serving as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra along with Eknath Shinde under Devendra Fadnavis since 5 December 2024. He is t ...

to resign. In his letters he pointed out that Rs 120 billion spent on lift irrigation projects in the state are a total waste as around 99 per cent of the total 227 projects in Maharashtra are not working and 90 per cent never began functioning. Pandhare, in a letter to other engineers, alleged that corruption can be controlled by curtailing the powers. The irregularities were so serious Pandhare alleged that the government was "...playing with people's lives".

Political career

In December 2013, after his retirement from active service, Pandhare joined the

(AAP). He unsuccessfully fought the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from

Nashik Nashik, formerly Nasik, is a city in the northern region of the Indian state of Maharashtra situated on the banks of the river Godavari, about northeast of the state capital Mumbai. Nashik is one of the Hindu pilgrimage sites of the Kumbh ...

, losing his deposit. He secured sixth position with 9,672 votes, losing to

Hemant Godse Hemant Tukaram Godse (born 3 August 1970) is a member of the 17th Lok Sabha of India. He represents Nashik constituency of Maharashtra and is a member of the Shiv Sena. He was previously a member of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena The Mahar ...

, who got 494,735 votes. Even before the election results were announced, he relocated to Buldhana, and declared that he won't contest elections any more. He claimed that "more than 98% of the people" associated with AAP did it merely for publicity.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pandhare, Vijay Living people Marathi people Engineers from Maharashtra Indian whistleblowers Year of birth missing (living people)