MPCC President Harshavardhan Sapkal and Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis.
Credit: X/@INCHarshsapkal, PTI Photo
Mumbai: The Congress on Wednesday accused Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of "throttling" democracy on the Constitution Day after a district president of the grand old party was kidnapped and beaten up in Ahilyanagar amid the ongoing local bodies elections in the state.
Sachin Gujar was kidnapped in Shrirampur and later beaten up and left at a deserted place.
The CCTV footage of the incident has gone viral on social media platforms.
After the incident, Shrirampur MLA Hemant Ogale, Congress party workers and Gujar visited the police station to file a complaint in this matter.
Maharashtra Congress President Harshavardhan Sapkal too rushed to Ahilyanagar.
"The kidnapping and brutal assault of Gujar is extremely serious and utterly condemnable. On Constitution Day, the BJP throttled democracy first thing in the morning. On the same day….26/11…when Pakistani terrorists had attacked India, Fadnavis’ favourites in Ahilyanagar chose to kill democracy,” Sapkal said.
“The kidnapping and beating of a district president of a national party in the middle of elections is something the Congress will not tolerate at all,” he said, adding that it raises a grave question whether democracy even survives in Maharashtra.
“The BJP government has now openly begun displaying its misdeeds. This is not the first incident in Nagar. Two Congress workers who wanted to contest the municipal elections were earlier arrested at night, kept in custody, and beaten. After that, the police put them in their own vehicle and took them to Water Resources Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil and former BJP MP Sujay Vikhe Patil to pressurise them — the entire sequence feels like a movie plot,” Sapkal alleged.
Mumbai Congress President Prof. Varsha Gaikwad, a Congress MP from Mumbai North-Central too lashed out at Fadnavis.
“Are the police in the state asleep? Gujar was kidnapped this morning and beaten up. If public representatives are being beaten in this manner, it is clear that there is no law and order in the state. Will the Home Minister at least take responsibility now? Attacks are being carried out on opposition leaders right in the middle of elections. If the Home Department cannot handle the affairs, then responsibility should be given to someone else,” she said.