Mumbai: Ranjitsinh Naik Nimbalkar has long been among a handful of BJP assets in Satara, a region dominated by political heavyweights and one where the party has struggled to gain a foothold. But a 28-year-old government doctor’s suicide last week thrust the former MP into controversy, with opposition parties and even some in the ruling alliance questioning his alleged role in pressuring her.

Though Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis gave Nimbalkar a clean chit on Sunday, the controversy threatens BJP’s carefully cultivated presence in NCP’s traditional bastion.

A political storm erupted last week when the doctor, who belonged to the state’s Beed district, was found hanging in a hotel room in Phaltan taluka of Satara. A note scrawled on her palm said a police sub-inspector h

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