Not our culture, but MLA may have fired to protect himself: Bawankule

MUMBAI: BJP state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule said the party's Kalyan East MLA Ganpat Gaikwad told him he had fired in self-defence.
"Once a detailed inquiry is done, everything will be clear," he said. "This is not our culture. That firing should happen from an elected representative is not expected in our society but if someone is losing his life, to protect his life, he may have done it.He (Gaikwad) is also an ordinary citizen. If it becomes too much then no one will stop. It, however, needs to be seen what is the truth," Bawankule said, adding that the incident does not behove well for Maharashtra.
"The govt and home department will inquire. We must preserve Maharashtra's culture. This is a land of Gods and saints and therefore such incidents must not happen. If Ganpat Gaikwad is guilty then govt will take appropriate action, but if he is innocent, then that needs to be considered. It needs to be seen what comes out of the inquiry. The party gets defamed to some extent on account of such incidents," Bawankule said.
Responding to Bawankule's statement that the firing was in self-defence, Kalyan MP Shrikant Shinde said the CCTV footage is in front of everybody and police too are investigating.
Dy CM Ajit Pawar said people should not take law into their hands. "I had a word with some persons related to BJP MLA (Gaikwad) and considering what he spoke to media, it has brought to the fore many things. The exact cause of the incident was not known as officials were busy with investigation," he said.
Ajit Pawar said he would take up the issue with Shinde and Fadnavis. He said the accused talking to the media was illegal. Food and civil supplies minister Chhagan Bhujbal rubbished Supriya Sule's demand for Fadnavis' resignation, questioning its rationale. "Did Fadnavis order the firing in this case?" he asked. "We will speak to Fadnavis and are hopeful the case will be resolved soon," he added.