<p>Mumbai: The <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/india/maharashtra/woman-raped-inside-state-transport-bus-in-pune-accused-on-the-run-3422489">Swargate bus terminal rape incident</a> in Pune has snowballed into a political controversy with the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi targetting Maharashtra Chief Minister <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/devendra-fadnavis">Devendra Fadnavis</a> ahead of the budget session of State Legislature even as workers of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) vandalised the bus depot.</p><p>Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Vasant More along with other party workers visited the Swargate depot and broke the window panes to protest against the rape.</p><p>Leader of the Opposition in Legislature Council Ambadas Danve said that the incident is serious. “The incident of rape of a woman in a bus in Pune is horrific. With such incidents increasing, how long will the Shakti Act remain in the chain of question and answer between the Centre and the State? What is the government trying to achieve by not implementing this law? If the government is not there to provide security to women, then what is the purpose,” asked Danve, a senior Shiv Sena (UBT) leader.</p>.<p>Lashing out at the Maha Yuti-NDA dispensation, Baramati MP and NCP (SP) working president Supriya Sule said: “There is a police post near the Swargate bus stand. Moreover, police personnel patrol the bus stand from time to time. Still, the fact that the accused dared to commit such a heinous crime shows that criminals have no fear of the law…he question has also been raised whether there is no safe place for women in this state. Serious crimes are happening here and there every day in Pune.”</p><p>Targeting Fadnavis, who is also the state Home Minister, she said: “The Home department has failed to curb crime in Pune."</p><p>“The trial of this case should be held in a fast-track court and the accused must get a severe punishment,” she added. </p><p>Congress Legislature Party leader Vijay Wadettiwar said: “It is shocking that an incident of rape has taken place at Swargate bus station on a 26-year-old woman. She was taken to a closed Shiv Shahi bus and raped in the early hours of the morning. What's even more shocking is that the police have not yet found the accused. It is a matter of great shame for the Pune police.”</p><p>Maharashtra Congress President Harshwardhan Sapkal claimed that incidents of rape were on rise in the state. “MSRTC buses are Maharashtra's lifeline, and now a rape has taken place inside an MSRTC bus, he said. When the Nirbhaya gangrape incident took place in Delhi, people changed the regime. You promote the Laadki Bahin scheme for women, but ignore basic issues of the people," he said, hitting out at the BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP government.</p>
<p>Mumbai: The <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/india/maharashtra/woman-raped-inside-state-transport-bus-in-pune-accused-on-the-run-3422489">Swargate bus terminal rape incident</a> in Pune has snowballed into a political controversy with the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi targetting Maharashtra Chief Minister <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/devendra-fadnavis">Devendra Fadnavis</a> ahead of the budget session of State Legislature even as workers of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) vandalised the bus depot.</p><p>Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Vasant More along with other party workers visited the Swargate depot and broke the window panes to protest against the rape.</p><p>Leader of the Opposition in Legislature Council Ambadas Danve said that the incident is serious. “The incident of rape of a woman in a bus in Pune is horrific. With such incidents increasing, how long will the Shakti Act remain in the chain of question and answer between the Centre and the State? What is the government trying to achieve by not implementing this law? If the government is not there to provide security to women, then what is the purpose,” asked Danve, a senior Shiv Sena (UBT) leader.</p>.<p>Lashing out at the Maha Yuti-NDA dispensation, Baramati MP and NCP (SP) working president Supriya Sule said: “There is a police post near the Swargate bus stand. Moreover, police personnel patrol the bus stand from time to time. Still, the fact that the accused dared to commit such a heinous crime shows that criminals have no fear of the law…he question has also been raised whether there is no safe place for women in this state. Serious crimes are happening here and there every day in Pune.”</p><p>Targeting Fadnavis, who is also the state Home Minister, she said: “The Home department has failed to curb crime in Pune."</p><p>“The trial of this case should be held in a fast-track court and the accused must get a severe punishment,” she added. </p><p>Congress Legislature Party leader Vijay Wadettiwar said: “It is shocking that an incident of rape has taken place at Swargate bus station on a 26-year-old woman. She was taken to a closed Shiv Shahi bus and raped in the early hours of the morning. What's even more shocking is that the police have not yet found the accused. It is a matter of great shame for the Pune police.”</p><p>Maharashtra Congress President Harshwardhan Sapkal claimed that incidents of rape were on rise in the state. “MSRTC buses are Maharashtra's lifeline, and now a rape has taken place inside an MSRTC bus, he said. When the Nirbhaya gangrape incident took place in Delhi, people changed the regime. You promote the Laadki Bahin scheme for women, but ignore basic issues of the people," he said, hitting out at the BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP government.</p>