Mihir Shah, the 24-year-old son of a Shiv Sena leader and main accused in the Worli hit-and-run case, is missing a day after the accident left a 45-year-old woman dead. Six police teams are looking for him after the investigation revealed that he was at the wheel of the speeding BMW that crashed into a scooter. The crash left Kaveri Nakhawa dead and her husband Pradeep injured.

Rajesh Shah, Mihir’s father and deputy leader of the Eknath Shinde-led Sena in Maharashtra’s Palghar district, and his driver Rajrushi Bidavat will be produced in court today. The two were arrested last evening in connection with the crash that took place early yesterday. Rajesh Shah was arrested after he did not cooperate with the cops in their investigation, it is learnt. 

A lookout circular has been issued against Mihir Shah. When police reached his home, they found it locked. The whereabouts of his mother and sister are not known.

According to the investigation so far, Mihir Shah drank at a bar in Juhu late Saturday night and his driver picked up in the high-end BMW car. At Worli, he insisted that he would drive and took the wheel. The Nakhawas, Koliwada residents who sold fish for a living, were on their way back from Sassoon Dock when the BMW crashed into their scooter. Kaveri Nakhawa was run over and dragged by the BMW as it fled the scene. She was rushed to a hospital, where doctors declared her dead.

Mihir Shah, it is learnt, had called his father and told him about the accident. His phone has been off since then.

A case has been registered under the new criminal code Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita under sections relating to culpable homicide not amounting to murder, rash driving and destruction of evidence, among others. Provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act have also been invoked.

Maharashtra Chief Minister and Sena Leader Eknath Shinde has termed the incident “unfortunate” and assured strict action. “Law will take its own course, everyone is equal before law,” he has said.

The victim’s husband, Pradeep, broke down before the media yesterday. “I have two children, what will I do now? These are big people, nobody will do anything, we will suffer,” he said.

Aaditya Thackeray of Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray faction — the rival bloc of the Shinde faction — rushed to the Worli police station yesterday and spoke to the cops. “I will not go into the political leanings of Shah, the accused of the hit-and-run, but I hope the police will act swiftly to catch the accused and bring him to justice. Hopefully, there will be no political refuge by the regime.”

Mr Thackeray also said he met the victim’s husband. “We promised him that we would do everything to bring the accused to justice.”

The Worli hit-and-run comes months after and has striking similarities with the Porsche hit-and-run in Pune that left two 24-year-old engineers dead in February. The minor accused in the Pune crash was speeding a Porsche car after a round of drinking. The teen’s father, a prominent realtor, his mother and his grandfather were arrested in the wake of the accident for allegedly attempting to destroy evidence.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s remarks on the Ram Janmabhoomi movement led by BJP veteran Lal Krishna Advani has drawn a sharp response, with the BJP doubling down on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “childish mind” jab at Mr Gandhi.

BJP veteran and Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan described Rahul Gandhi as “bal buddhi” (childish) and accused him of “spreading confusion and lies”.

“Rahul Gandhi is a childish person who has not matured yet. He has not yet become the Leader of the Opposition properly. He says we (INDIA bloc) defeated the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. Rahul ji, Ram is our existence, our ideal, our life, our God, and Ram is the identity of India,” Mr Chouhan told reporters.

Referring to the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, he said, “This movement has thrown the Congress out of power many times and paved the way for the construction of a divine and grand temple, but Rahul Gandhi only lies.”

Mr Chouhan also accused Mr Gandhi of lying in Parliament about Agniveer martyrs and the government of not providing a Minimum Support Price.

“He (Rahul) knows nothing else other than lying and spreading confusion. That is why this ‘Bal Buddhi’ person Rahul Gandhi keeps saying anything that comes to his mind. No one understands how he was able to defeat the (Ram Mandir) movement.

“Just saying whatever comes to mind has become the tendency of the Congress. Under his (Rahul Gandhi) leadership, the Congress will invite only misfortune,” he added.

BJP leaders have been infantilising Mr Gandhi and saying he has a “childish mind” after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “balak buddhi” jab at the Congress MP, now Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha.

The remarks in question were made by the Congress leader during his visit to Ahmedabad. He was speaking about the Faizabad Lok Sabha seat — of which Ayodhya is a part — by Congress ally Samajwadi Party.

“By defeating the BJP in Ayodhya, INDIA bloc has defeated the Ram Mandir movement that was launched by the BJP veteran Lal Krishna Advani. What I am saying is something very big… Congress party and INDIA bloc defeated them in Ayodhya,” Mr Gandhi said Saturday.

The Rath Yatra was launched by Mr Advani to shore up support for the construction of a temple at the site in Ayodhya believed to be the birthplace of Lord Ram. The yatra was taken out in 1990 and multiple communal clashes were reported along its route. Two years later, the 16th century Babri Masjid located at the Ayodhya site was demolished by Hindu activists who believed it was built on the ruins of an ancient temple to mark Ram’s birthplace. Nearly three decades later, a Supreme Court ruling paved the way for a construction of a Ram Temple at the site.

With the BJP playing up the Ram temple construction in its election campaign, the Faizabad election was keenly watched, and the BJP’s defeat there was a key talking point on result day.

While speaking in Ahmedabad, Mr Gandhi also claimed that the BJP would be defeated in its stronghold Gujarat in the 2027 state polls. “Together we are going to defeat them in Gujarat. We will defeat Narendra Modi and BJP in Gujarat just like we defeated them in Ayodhya,” Mr Gandhi said.

This would be quite a task because in the 2022 election, the BJP swept the state, winning 156 of the 182 Assembly seats and the Congress managed just 17.

Mr Gandhi’s remarks also drew the criticism of Chirag Paswan, Union Minister and leader of BJP’s ally Lok Janshakti Party (Ramvilas).

Responding to the Congress leader’s remarks, he said, “First up of all, Rahul Gandhi should learn it is Faizabad Lok Sabha, not Ayodhya. Ayodhya is a Vidhan Sabha constituency and is part of it. In such cases, if they think Ayodhya’s win is big for them, then we are also analysing our mistakes and working towards it. They couldn’t even cross the mark of 100+ seats in Lok Sabha and are claiming big things, I think their pride won’t stay for long. In upcoming days, there are elections in various states, the results will show how strong NDA is.”

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