MUMBAI: The opposition in Maharashtra on Saturday demanded Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s resignation after a BJP MLA shot and injured a Shiv Sena leader over a land dispute in Thane district. BJP and Shinde-led Sena are ruling partners in the state.The Congress claimed that the incident pointed to a law and order “breakdown” in the state, while the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) said Shinde was “responsible” for it. NCP president Sharad Pawar termed it worrisome and said there is a limit to the “misuse” of power.Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis told the media that he has ordered a high-level probe into the firing incident, while his peer Ajit Pawar said it was wrong for elected representatives to take the law into their own hands. Kalyan MLA Ganpat Gaikwad of BJP opened fire on Mahesh Gaikwad, the Shiv Sena chief of Kalyan, inside a police station at Ulhasnagar in Thane district on Friday night, Additional Commissioner of Police Dattatrya Shinde told the media.Ulhasnagar falls in the Kalyan parliamentary constituency, currently represented by CM Shinde’s son Shrikant Shinde.Talking to the news channel ‘Zee24taas’ over the phone before his arrest, Ganpat Gaikwad alleged that CM Shinde was trying to establish a “kingdom of criminals” in Maharashtra.Former chief minister Ashok Chavan called the shooting “extremely serious and worrisome”.The incident at the Hill Line police station in Ulhasnagar is not only a challenge to law and order but also puts a question mark on the trustworthiness and responsibility of the state government to deliver justice, Chavan said in a post on his X handle.Leader of opposition in the state assembly Vijay Wadettiwar attributed the firing to “arrogance of power” and “vendetta politics” and accused Shinde of “encouraging” mob culture in the state. “There is a law and order breakdown,” he said.Wadettiwar said Shinde betrayed Uddhav Thackeray and will do the same with BJP.“Ganpat Gaikwad’s statement that Shinde’s son is indulging in corruption and nothing happened despite complaining to Devendra Fadnavis and senior BJP leaders is shocking. It shows the true colours of ‘Maha Yuti’ (ruling coalition). As elections draw close, their internal strife will also grow,” he claimed. State Congress president Nana Patole said the allegations made by the BJP MLA against the CM are serious and he should resign immediately.
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