Mumbai, Sep 8 (IANS) The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) on Monday launched a scathing attack on Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP chief Ajit Pawar, accusing him of “threatening” IPS officer Anjana Krishna and interfering in government work to protect illegal activities.
In a hard-hitting editorial in party mouthpiece Saamana, the Thackeray camp alleged that Pawar’s actions have “severely damaged Maharashtra’s administrative system and reputation” and demanded that a case be registered against him.
“If the law is the same for everyone, then a case should also be registered against ministers under the same law,” the editorial asked, calling upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to take serious note.
The trigger for the Thackeray camp to criticise DCM Pawar was a video that had gone viral in which the latter is heard speaking to Anjana Krishna, a sub-divisional police officer in Solapur’s Karmala, who was stopping the illegal excavation of ‘murrum’ – a substance used in road construction – in Kurdu village.
“Mai tere upar action lunga (I will act against you), “DCM Pawar tells Ms. Krishna. “Tujhe mujhe dekhna hai na? Tera number de do ya WhatsApp call karo. Mera chehra toh aapko samajh mein aaega na? (You want to see me, right? Give me your number or call me on WhatsApp. You will recognise my face, right ?)” he is heard telling her. “Itna daring hua hai kya (how dare you?),” he asked the officer in the video, calling her and allegedly asking her to stop the action she was taking.
Though Pawar later clarified that he respects police officers and never tolerates illegal work, the Thackeray camp has rejected his explanation and insisted that action against him is necessary. Ministers should say ‘no’ to illegal activities, and administrators should also implement a policy of zero corruption and illegal work, Saamana said.
“The administrative system in Maharashtra was once the best in the country. Officers who passed the Union Public Service Commission used to struggle to get an opportunity to work in Maharashtra. Ministers did not unnecessarily interfere in the administration and did not pressure officers to do illegal work for their own people. This is because the people leading the state were also equally cautious. Now the picture of Maharashtra has changed,” alleged the editorial.
Taking a swipe at DCM Pawar, the Thackeray camp said the state government should release a government resolution defining that all “illegal works” fall in the category of public works and therefore no action should be taken against them.
It said Pawar’s rebuke and threat to a woman IPS officer for allegedly protecting the illegal works by NCP workers clearly shows that a field of corruption is open in Maharashtra. “It is ironic that DCM Pawar, who gave a threat to a woman IPS officer, who has gained a reputation of being a strict and no-nonsense officer, has indulged in giving legal protection to corruption and illegal activities.”
“Ajit Pawar threatens IPS officers from the phone of the same thief Baba Jagtap, against whom the police officers took action, and asks them to protect his party’s criminal workers. The Union Home Minister and the Cabinet Secretary should take note of this. Pawar has amassed wealth worth thousands of crores and encouraged his other colleagues to do the same. Prime Minister Modi and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had attacked his Rs 70,000 crore irrigation scam. Yet Ajit Pawar joined the Fadnavis cabinet,” claimed the editorial.
Saamana sarcastically suggested that the state government issue a resolution declaring all “illegal works” as “public works,” thereby preventing officers from acting against them. It further mocked Pawar’s own recent diktat to party workers — that those indulging in illegal activities would be “hung upside down on a tyre” — asking, “So, at which intersection in Baramati will Ajit Pawar hang himself upside down?”
According to the editorial, if such an incident had happened in the non-BJP-ruled states, including West Bengal, Telangana, Karnataka, Jharkhand, and Himachal Pradesh, the BJP people would have hit the streets to brag that ‘law and order has collapsed’.
”However, everything is so peaceful in Maharashtra! It is as if Ajit Pawar did not threaten that police officer, but only chanted the Gayatri Mantra over the phone,” taunted the Thackeray camp.
–IANS
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