Mumbai, Feb 9 (IANS): A day after the shocking murder of a Shiv Sena (UBT) leader during a Facebook Live session, the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra has drawn the attention of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and will meet Governor Ramesh Bais over the law-and-order situation in the state.
The MVA constituents Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT) have also demanded the sacking or resignation of BJP's Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, alleging that law and order has collapsed in the state.
Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi has shot off a two-page letter to Amit Shah, highlighting “the dire law and order situation” here and the Maharashtra government’s failure to address it.
“The rampant use of firearms to intimidate innocent civilians and public representatives has plunged the state into a perpetual state of fear and insecurity,” Chaturvedi wrote.
Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole said that he will lead a party delegation to Governor Bais on Saturday to discuss the state's law-and-order situation, while demanding the dismissal of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s regime and imposing President’s Rule here.
Rubbishing the MVA’s contentions, Fadnavis, who also holds the home portfolio, said that SS-UBT leader Abhishek V. Ghosalkar was apparently killed out of personal enmity and “it is wrong to give it (the incident) a political colour”.
In her letter, Chaturvedi highlighted a series of incidents like the Ghosalkar killing, BJP MLA Ganpat K. Gaikwad shooting at Shiv Sena leader Mahesh Gaekwad in Ulhasnagar (Thane) last week, which is the home district of the CM, a ruling party MLA (Sada Sarvankar) firing inside the Dadar police station in January 2023 and brandishing his weapon during the Ganeshotsav festival.
She also cited other instances like ruling side MLA Prakash Surve’s son Raj Surve abducting a businessman at gunpoint, a leader from the ruling party assaulting a family including a girl for refusing to comply with extortion demands, the brutal assault of SS-UBT leader Roshni Shinde in Thane in April 2023, violent clashes in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and the state’s falling record in the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data.
“The once vibrant city of Mumbai is now marred by escalating crime, violence and gunfire. I implore you to urgently intervene in the deteriorating law and order situation in Maharashtra before irreparable harm is inflicted upon its residents,” Chaturvedi appealed to Shah.
Patole claimed that law-and-order in the state has gone for a toss with firings inside police stations, goons visiting the Mantralaya and the CM’s official bungalow, plus meeting other ruling side leaders, gangsters not fearing the law etc.
Besides Patole and Chaturvedi, other MVA leaders like Congress’ leader of opposition (Assembly) Vijay Wadettiwar, SS-UBT’s leader of opposition (Council) Ambadas Danve, Aditya Thackeray, Sanjay Raut, Sushma Andhare, NCP’s Jitendra Awhad, spokespersons Atul Londhe, Clyde Crasto, Kishore Tiwari and others too slammed the MahaYuti alliance over the law and order situation in the state.
Meanwhile, interacting with mediapersons, Fadnavis admitted that the Ghosalkar murder issue is serious, adding that the police are investigating it from all angles.
“What happened is wrong and unfortunate, and was probably due to some personal rivalry… Ghosalkar was killed while Mauris Noronha shot himself. But in the recent past, they were working together. What went wrong is a matter of investigation,” Fadnavis said.