Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday "condemned" Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's "cheap attempt to politicise" the case of the 17-year-old who killed two people with his speeding Porsche in Pune's Kalyani Nagar area on May 20.
Fadnavis said, "This is a very cheap attempt to politicise this incident because the police took immediate action. We have also expressed surprise at the decision given by the Juvenile Justice Board in this case, but the police filed an appeal against it. Those who gave alcohol to the minor have also been arrested, and the father who gave the car has also been arrested. The attempt by Rahul Gandhi to bring vote politics into everything is very wrong. I condemn it."
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He was referring to Gandhi's late Tuesday video statement questioning the "privileged treatment" meted out to the accused minor by making him write an essay, do social service, and undergo medical counselling to give up alcohol. Drawing comparisons, Gandhi said that when autorickshaw drivers, cabbies, bus or truck drivers kill anybody unintentionally, they are dumped in prison for 10 years and even the jail keys are thrown away.
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"Bus drivers, truck drivers, Ola, Uber and auto drivers... if they mistakenly kill somebody, then they are sentenced to ten years in prison and the key is thrown away. But if a 17-year-old boy belonging to a rich family is driving a Porsche car under the influence of alcohol and kills two people, he is asked to write in a particular way," Gandhi said.
"(Prime Minister) Narendra Modi was asked if two Indias are being created. One of rich people and the other of poor people. He answered, 'Should I make all the people poor?' The question is about justice. Both the rich and the poor should get justice. Everyone should get justice. That is why we are fighting against injustice," he added.
