‘Badla Pura’: BJP tries to one-up Shiv Sena in taking credit for Badlapur accused’s encounter

On Wednesday, posters showing deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis holding a gun with the caption “Badla Pura” (revenge taken) appeared in various parts of Mumbai, including Kherwadi, Andheri, Lalbaug and Sion

Mumbai: A day after leaders and workers of the Shiv Sena celebrated the killing of Akshay Shinde, the arrested accused in the Badlapur sexual assaults case, in a police encounter by bursting firecrackers, distributing sweets and crediting chief minister Eknath Shinde for delivering “natural justice”, the Bharatiya Janata Party appeared to try to one-up its ally.

Mumbai, India. Sep 25, 2024: After the Badlapur sexual assault case accused Akshay Shinde killed in encounter. Unknown individuals put up posters of Devendra Fadnavis across Mumbai, bearing the phrase "Badla Pura" (Revenge Completed). Mumbai, India. Sep, 25, 2024. (Photo by Raju Shinde/HT Photo) (Hindustan Times)

On Wednesday, posters showing deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis holding a gun with the caption “Badla Pura” (revenge taken) appeared in various parts of Mumbai, including Kherwadi, Andheri, Lalbaug and Sion. Fadnavis is also the state home minister.

The posters, which did not have the name or symbol of any political party, were set up overnight. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) removed some of the posters on Wednesday.

There were also posters in Marathi that compared the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi’s (MVA’s) regime with the current Mahayuti government. They claimed that during the MVA regime, police collected money on behalf of the government and, now, the police are protecting the public. This was an apparent reference to former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh’s allegation that NCP (SP) leader Anil Deshmukh, who was the state home minister in the MVA regime, had asked former police officer Sachin Vaze to collect ₹100 crore a month from bars and restaurants in 2021.

Meanwhile, opposition leaders continued to attack the state government over the police encounter.

Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra assembly, Vijay Wadettiwar, sought an investigation into the role of senior police inspector Sanjay Shinde, who shot Akshay Shinde dead. The Congress leader claimed that Sanjay Shinde was earlier involved in an encounter at the same location. “His role needs to be probed. It also needs to be cleared whether the whole thing was done to help the ruling parties, which are on their way out,” he said.

Wadettiwar also accused the BJP of double standards. “The BJP regime takes credit for the encounter of Akshay Shinde, but they applied different criteria to [Kaiserganj MP] Brij Bhushan [Sharan] Singh. Brij Bhushan was also accused of similar crimes against girls. Then, why did the BJP regime not use encounter justice with him? It’s the double standards of the BJP,” said Wadettiwar. Multiple female wrestlers have alleged that Brij Bhushan sexually harassed them during his tenure as the chief of the Wrestling Federation of India.

Nationalist Congress Party (SP) MP Supriya Sule criticised the posters of Fadnavis holding guns, asking if Maharashtra is being turned into Mirzapur, referring to the crime web series. “I am sad to see such a poster showing home minister Devendra Fadnavis with a gun in hand. What message will this poster give to the children of Maharashtra?” she said.