‘No one is safe in Mumbai’: Opposition tears into BJP govt over attack on Saif Ali Khan

The shocking attack on actor Saif Ali Khan by an unidentified person at his residence in the early morning on Thursday has sparked off a political war of words with the opposition targeting the Devendra Fadnavis government over the law and order situation in Maharashtra.

Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar said the incident showed the deteriorating law and order situation in the state and urged the chief minister to take them more seriously.

"It (attack on Khan) shows that the law and order situation in Maharashtra is deteriorating. Recently, a person was killed in the same area and now this incident. All these things are worrisome," Pawar told reporters at Baramati in Pune.

"The state government, especially the chief minister, who holds charge of the home department, should pay attention to these things more seriously," he said.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said the government stands exposed after the incident. "No one is safe. Let alone ordinary people, even celebrities who have their own security are not safe."

Another Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said the attack on Saif raises questions about Mumbai police and the home minister. “What a shame that Mumbai sees another high profile attempt on life, the attack on Saif Ali Khan yet again raises questions on Mumbai Police & the Home Minister,” she wrote on X.

Congress state president Nana Patole also targeted the government and demanded the resignation of Fadnavis as the home minister.

“If such incidents occur in the bustling area of Bandra in Mumbai, who is safe in the city?” he asked.

“After the life-threatening attack on Saif Ali Khan, rather than addressing the issue, Fadnavis was busy promoting films,” Patole added, referring to the chief minister attending the special screening of Emergency directed by Kangana Ranaut.

Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe said the law and order situation has deteriorated in the state, and the incidents in Beed—where a village sarpanch was brutally killed for allegedly thwarting an attempt to extort money from an energy firm—showed that the administration is working for anti-social elements.

“If people like actors Saif Ali Khan and Salman Khan who live in high-security zone were being attacked and needed to install bullet-proof windows, it means nobody trusts the government,” the Congress leader said.

Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal, too, took potshots at the BJP government over its “failure” in protecting the people of the country. "A gangster sitting in a Gujarat jail is acting fearlessly. It seems like he is being protected," the former Delhi chief minister sid in a reference to gangster Lawrence Bishnoi lodged in Gujarat's Sabarmati jail.

The attack on Saif Ali Khan came months after former minister Baba Siddique was shot dead by three persons in the Bandra area. Before that, in April last year, there was a firing outside actor Salman Khan's apartment building in the posh suburban area. A bulletproof glass has now been installed on the balcony of his home.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, meanwhile, dismissed the opposition’s allegations and said Mumbai is the safest mega city in India.

“I think Mumbai is the safest among mega cities in the country,” Fadnavis said. "It is true that some incidents take place sometimes, and they must be taken seriously. But to say that Mumbai is unsafe due to such incidents is not right,” he said.