Mumbai: Two days after a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Ganpat Kalu Gaikwad was nabbed for shooting a ruling Shiv Sena leader in Ulhasnagar, several Ministers of the latter’s party called on Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis here on Monday.
The Shiv Sena ministers met Fadnavis before the state cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Excise Minister Shambhuraj Desai told mediapersons later.
The ostensible reason for the meeting was Gaikwad’s comments levelling serious allegations against the CM, accusing Shinde of reportedly owing him a lot of money and for setting up a criminal fiefdom in the state.
“Shinde is trying to establish a kingdom of goons in the state. He deceived Uddhav Thackeray, he will betray the BJP also. He owes me crores of rupees. Shinde should quit if Maharashtra has to be administered well. This is my humble plea to Fadnavis and Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Gaikwad earlier had said before he was whisked off by the Thane Police.
Apparently rattled by the allegations hurled publicly by a ruling ally directly naming and targeting the Chief Minister, the delegation is understood to have conveyed its sentiments to Fadnavis, terming the comments as “baseless and unwarranted”.
It may be recalled that late on Friday night (February 2) , Gaikwad had opened fire at Shiv Sena Kalyan-Ulhasnagar leader Mahesh Gaekwad inside the Hill Line Police Station of Ghatkopar, sparking a massive political furore.
Mahesh Gaekwad sustained six bullet injuries and his aide Rahul Patil took two bullets.
Gaekwad underwent a six-hour emergency surgery on Saturday to extricate bullets at the Jupiter Hospital in Thane city — the hometown of CM Shinde — and his condition is now gradually improving.
Taking a serious note of the incident, CM Shinde and his son, Dr. Shrikant E. Shinde, Kalyan MP, have visited Gaekwad several times at the hospital to enquire after his health.
The comments of Gaikwad — now in police custody till February 14 — have not gone down well with the party rank-and-file as they came from an ally leader ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
–IANS