Audi row: Netas changing lanes

Congress Nagpur West MLA backs BJP leader Bawankule, rest of the party begs to differ

- Prajakta Pol

Even as senior Congress leaders were busy putting the Mahayuti government on the mat over the Audi hit-and-run case in Nagpur involving the son of state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule, its party MLA Vikas Thakre sprang a surprise on Tuesday, asking that the issue not be politicised.

An impartial probe should be conducted into the accident and those found guilty should not be spared but the issue should not be politicised, Thakre told the media. "The accident took place in my constituency and I spoke to senior police officers," said the MLA from the Nagpur West constituency.

However, his stand is contradictory to the one taken by his senior colleagues MPCC chief Nana Patole, the leader of the opposition in state assembly Vijay Wadettiwar and the party spokesman Atul Londhe - all of whom reside in Nagpur.

Senior leaders have raised several questions on the handling of the case, the delay in the registration of FIR, the attempts to shield Bawankule’s son Sanket and the overall approach of the state home department.