Mumbai: The conduct of Sunil Tingre, MLA of the NCP led by Ajit Pawar, vis a vis the Porsche Taycan accident has become a major source of embarrassment for the Mahayuti government in Maharashtra. The NCP (Ajit Pawar) is a part of the ruling coalition which includes the BJP and the Shiv Sena (Shinde).
Tingre, who is reportedly close to the accused Vishal Agarwal, a builder, had visited the police station late at night in an alleged effort to pressurise the cops into going easy on the drunk minor who fatally knocked down two engineers with his Porsche Taycan on May 19 night.
Tingre has denied that he had put pressure on the police to go easy on the minor. But the question being asked is why he went to the police station that night in the first place. The Pune police too denied any pressure. However, the lackadaisical manner in which the police handled the case on the crucial night, raises several questions.
Supriya Sule, NCP (Sharad Pawar), has slammed Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is in charge of the home portfolio, for the shoddy investigation which resulted in a national outrage. What is interesting is that Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has not taken any action against Tingre so far.
Tingre was elected in 2019 from Vadgaon Sheri Assembly constituency in Pune city on an NCP ticket. He had defeated sitting BJP MLA Jagdish Mulik by a margin of 4,956 votes. In 2014, he had contested the assembly poll on a Shiv Sena ticket but lost to Jagdish Mulik by a margin of 5,325 votes. On July 2, 2023, when the NCP split, he joined the faction led by Ajit Pawar.
The Mahayuti is in a dilemma because if it takes action against Tingre it will only confirm the opposition's allegation that he had interfered in the shocking accident case. On the other hand, if no action is taken against him, then the government will be accused of shielding him. Many in the BJP feel that its ally, NCP (Ajit Pawar), should not field him again in the assembly polls, which are likely to be held later this year. In any case, his seat was earlier represented by the BJP and the latter wants it to be taken away from the NCP (Ajit Pawar).
Meanwhile, pressure is mounting on the state government to move Amitesh Kumar out of the Pune police commissionerate. The Shiv Sena (UBT) had demanded his suspension for his handling of the Porsche Taycan controversy. One way of easing the pressure is to shunt him out of Pune and appoint a non-controversial IPS officer in his place.
