Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray is scheduled to meet the family of Beed sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, whose murder has ignited a major political controversy, during the first week of January.
Thackeray will also meet the family of Dalit man Somnath Suryavanshi, who reportedly died in judicial custody following his arrest in connection with violence over the desecration of a replica of the Constitution in Parbhani.
"Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray will visit Parbhani and Beed to meet the families of Somnath Suryavanshi and Santosh Deshmukh, respectively," Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut confirmed on Saturday.
NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar met the families of Somnath Suryavanshi and Santosh Deshmukh last week. Additionally, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, also visited Suryavanshi's family in Parbhani.
So far, police have arrested four people, including Vishnu Chate, the former tehsil chief of the Ajit Pawar-headed NCP, in connection with the murder of sarpanch Deshmukh. Authorities are currently searching for three others who have been named as wanted accused for kidnapping and brutally killing Deshmukh on December 9.
Parbhani city in central Maharashtra erupted in violence on December 10 after a glass-enclosed replica of the Constitution near Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's statue was vandalized. Somnath Suryavanshi (35), who was arrested in connection with the incident, died on December 15 at a state-run hospital after complaining of chest pain. Rahul Gandhi accused the authorities of killing Suryavanshi because he was a Dalit attempting to protect the Constitution.