Mumbai: Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on Friday demanded the dismissal of the Eknath Shinde government in Maharashtra and imposition of the President’s Rule in the state after a leader of the opposition party was shot dead during a Facebook live and another politician was injured in a gun attack inside a police station. However, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said both incidents took place because of personal rivalry and the police investigation will bring out the truth. He said the death of former Shiv Sena corporator Abhishek Ghosalkar was unfortunate, but the opposition parties are using the incident for their politics.
Abhishek, who was the son of the former MLA and Uddhav Thackeray Vinod Ghosalkar, was shot dead in Mumbai suburb on Thursday evening during a live streaming on social media by Mauris Noronha, a local social worker. After killing Ghosalkar, Narhona committed suicide. The incident took place after BJP MLA Ganpat Gaikwad fired at a local Shiv Sena leader Mahesh Gaikwad inside a police station in Ulhasnagar on last Friday. These two incident triggered sharp reactions from the opposition parties in the state.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Sanjay Raut even tried to link the accused Mauris Noronha with chief minister Eknath Shinde by sharing a photo on his X account that showed Noronha and Mr Shinde in the same frame. Mr. Raut also alleged that Noronha was even extended an invite to join the Shinde-led Sena. In the same post, he demanded resignation of Fadnavis stating as he has completely failed to handle the home department.
The Sharad Pawar faction of NCP also alleged that Mr. Fadnavis has failed to perform his duty as the home minister therefore, he must resign immediately. Senior NCP leader and Baramati MP Supriya Sule said, “The chief minister and deputy chief minister are openly meeting the gangsters and providing backing to them.”
Referring to BJP MLA Ganpat Gaikwad’s statement, Ms Sule asked whether Gundaraj has officially started in the state. “The leaders are being murdered in broad daylight. It means that the home minister is not paying attention to his department. Due to his negligence, law and order in the state has completely collapsed,” she said.
Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole echoed the same. “The criminals and goons are going to CM's Varsha bungalow without any restriction. Police are helpless due to political interference in the working of the police department. President's rule must be imposed,” Mr. Patole demanded.
Rebutting the opposition’s allegation, Mr. Fadnavis, who is also the home minister of Maharashtra, said that it is unfortunate to link the murder of Sena UBT leader Abhishek Ghosalkar with the law and order situation of the state and do politics over it. “In 2024, we saw the banners of Mauris and Ghosalkar together and they even welcomed the new year together. They had been working together for many years. Due to some reasons, the rivalry has developed between them. The causes of the rivalry are coming out. An investigation is going on. We will reveal the reasons for the rivalry after the completion of the investigation,” the home minister said.
“The Opposition is doing politics over it," Mr. Fadnavis added.
