Mumbai: Ahead of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly polls, state BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule has come under sharp attack from the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi for the accident of his son Sanket Bawankule's luxury car in Nagpur.
Along with Bawankule, who is an MLC and former minister, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is also the state’s Home Minister, became the target of the opposition as the incident compounds into a major political issue.
The opposition MVA comprising Congress, Uddhav Thackeray-headed Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) has questioned why Sanket has not been arrested by the Nagpur police, and drew parallels with the recent hit-and-run cases of Pune and Mumbai.
The accident took place on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, when Bawankule’s son’s Audi car lost control and hit another car, and some two-wheelers in the Ramdaspeth area.
The Sitabuldi police station has registered a case and investigations are in progress.
On Tuesday, Deputy Commissioner of Police Rahul Madane said that Sanket was not driving the car.
“The blood samples of Sanket Bawankule and the driver Arjun Haware, who was arrested and later granted bail, were collected and sent for analysis,” he said.
“The car is in the name of my son. The police should conduct a fair and complete investigation of this accident; no one should be judged differently. Those who are guilty should be charged and action should be taken against them. Law is the same for everyone,” said Bawankule after the incident.
Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut said: “There cannot be two laws, one for (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi and one for others.”
Raut said that Sanket was driving, but after the crash, he exchanged seats with his driver. “Why were the number plates removed?” he asked.
State Congress chief spokesperson Atul Londhe said: “Sanket allegedly hit multiple vehicles in Nagpur while driving an Audi car in an intoxicated state. However, no action has been taken against him yet. Who is putting pressure on the police?”
“It was observed that after the accident, the car's number plates were removed and placed inside the vehicle, indicating an attempt to hide evidence. In the Bajajnagar area, one person was injured during this accident, but he is unwilling to speak out. Two more people were injured, but they are also keeping silent,” said Londhe.
“The accident happened at 0036 hrs, so what was Sanket Bawankule's location between 0030 and 0100 hrs? Instead of arresting Sanket and taking action, the police administration is shielding him, and there seems to be an attempt to suppress the case under pressure,” he alleged.
NCP (SP) spokesperson Clyde Crasto said: “It has to be thoroughly investigated because they are saying that the BJP leader's son was not driving. We have to go to the depth of it because from what people are talking, it is believed that he was driving. Even in Worli, the investigation took time as an Eknath Shinde group’s leader was involved. In the Pune hit-and-run case, the Ajit Pawar camp MLA made a call, they did not investigate thoroughly.”