A city chief of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena was shot at by a BJP legislator last night near Mumbai, said police. Ganpat Gaikwad fired at Mahesh Gaikwad at a police station allegedly over a land dispute and has been detained.

Ganpat Gaikwad represents the Kalyan East constituency in Kalyan, about 40 km from Mumbai. His party is in alliance with Mr Shinde’s Sena in the Maharashtra government.

Two people were injured in the firing, said Sudhakar Pathare, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP).

The two sides had come to Hill Line police station in Ulhasnagar over a land dispute, but the MLA opened fire during the heated talks. The Sena leader and another supporter injured in the firing were taken to a hospital immediately.

Five bullets have been taken out from his body, but his condition remains critical.

Ganpat Gaikwad, who was detained following the incident, told a news channel that the issue was over a land that Mahesh Gaikwad had allegedly captured. He claimed he opened fire in self-defence since they were misbehaving with his son.

“Mahesh Gaikwad and Ganpat Gaikwad had some dispute. They had come to Hill Line police station to lodge a complaint, but Ganpat Gaikward opened fire at Mahesh Gaikwad and his associates during the talks. Two people were injured,” said Mr Pathare.

The Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena has slammed the government for failing to ensure law and order.

“A BJP MLA opened fire inside the police station and the person who was shot is close to the Chief Minister and a former corporator. Both their parties are in power, so should we understand that these people have no fear of the law? Both engines of the state government have failed,” said Uddhav faction spokesperson Anand Dubey.

The Shiv Sena had split in 2022 after Eknath Shinde revolted against then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and formed government with the BJP’s help. The Election Commission had last year ruled in favour of Mr Shinde over the party’s legacy.

A team of the Delhi Police’s Crime Branch came to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s home again today to serve notice in a case over his allegation that the BJP tried to buy Aam Aadmi Party MLAs.

The Crime Branch teams had gone to Mr Kejriwal and Delhi minister Atishi’s homes yesterday too to serve notice. Officials at Mr Kejriwal’s home, however, refused to take the notice, and Atishi was not at home, news agency PTI reported.

Sources said the Crime Branch wants to hand over the notice to Mr Kejriwal personally.

The Delhi BJP had filed a complaint to Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora, saying the allegations by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders were serious.

“We had said Kejriwal is making false allegations. The truth behind Kejriwal’s lie is about to be exposed now. He cannot lie and then run away from an investigation,” Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva said.

Last week, the AAP alleged the BJP offered Rs 25 crore each to seven of its MLAs to quit the party, and threatened to topple the Kejriwal government.

Atishi had told reporters the BJP has launched “Operation Lotus 2.0” in Delhi, referring to the BJP’s election symbol, and a term that the Opposition frequently uses against the BJP for alleged attempts to topple state governments.

“They had made a similar attempt to poach AAP MLAs last year by offering them money, but failed,” Atishi had said.

Mr Sachdeva, the Delhi BJP chief, after meeting the police chief on January 30 demanded Mr Kejriwal must prove his allegations. So far no one from the AAP has come with evidence, Mr Sachdeva said, adding this proves the allegation is baseless.

Canada has named India as a ‘foreign threat’ that could potentially interfere in their elections, months after they alleged Delhi’s role in the killing of a Khalistani terrorist on their soil. The Indian government is yet to react to the fresh allegation.

The allegation was made by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service in a declassified intelligence report – accessed by Global News.

This is the latest in a series of allegations and counter-allegations that erupted last year with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claiming Indian role in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar – which India denied.

The October 2022 report titled ‘Foreign Interference and Elections: A National Security Assessment’ called India a ‘threat’ and warned that foreign interference was weakening Canada’s democracy.

Foreign interference is different from traditional diplomacy since it used secrecy and deception to influence public narratives and policy-making, Global News cited the report as saying.

This is the first time Canada has accused India of election meddling, a charge that China and Russia already face. A ‘Briefing to the Minister of Democratic Institutions on Foreign Interference’ in February last year referred to China as “by far the most significant threat.”

“We know that the PRC sought to clandestinely and deceptively influence the 2019 and 2021 federal elections,” it quoted the report, referring to the People’s Republic of China.

The parts of the document made public names no country, but other materials name India and China as top threats, the media said. It said foreign interference harms Canada and Canadians “by eroding sovereignty, democratic processes and values.”

“FI (foreign interference) activities incrementally weaken the fabric of Canadian democracy, subtly diminish the hard-won social cohesion of a multicultural society, and impinge on the Charter rights of Canadians,” it said.

The Canadian Prime Minister has ordered an enquiry into the charges.

Tensions had been brewing between India and Canada since Prime Minister Narendra Modi scolded Justin Trudeau over rising secessionist activities in his country, during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of G20 summit in Delhi last year.

A week after that, Trudeau made the explosive charge that “Indian government agents” could be behind the shooting of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen and a wanted terrorist in India, outside a gurdwara in Surrey in June. India rejected the allegation as “absurd”.