Police cases against Oppn leaders after Pawar''s non co-operation threat

Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service
Mumbai, December 17

Leaders of the opposition Congress and Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra are feeling the heat from Chief Miister Devendra Fadnavis government after announcing a non-cooperation programme by farmers in the state.

The government has reopened several files pertaining to irrigation projects and filed First Information Reports in a few of them hours after Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar asked farmers not to pay their water and power bills as part of a protest for higher remunerative price for their crops. Pawar had led a joint march of opposition parties, including Maharashtra Congress Party president Ashok Chavan and leaders of smaller parties in Nagpur, to mark his birthday.

Enthused by the turnout at the protest in Nagpur, leaders of the Congress and the NCP have chalked out protest programmes in all regions of the state from January. Leader of the Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil of the Congress party told reporters in Nagpur that protest marches would be held in the Konkan, Marathwada, Amravati, Western and North Maharashtra.

Shortly afterwards FIRs were filed against industrialist Sandip Bajoria, who is believed to be close to senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar. During the 15-year long Congress-NCP rule in Maharashtra, the irrigation department was held by Pawar and his close aide Sunil Tatkare. Probes into several alleged scams in the irrigation department are being carried out under the supervision of the Bombay High Court.

The NCP hit back by saying the BJP was playing vindictive politics.

“The BJP is taking revenge on the opposition parties following the huge turnout at our Vidarbha protest march,” senior NCP leader Dhananjay Munde said.

Leaders of the two Congress parties say they will continue to forge ahead with a combined protest programme despite the threat of government action in the coming days. Sources in the Congress and the NCP say they were taken by surprise at the huge turnout at the protest march across Vidarbha earlier this month that culminated in Nagpur.

“Pawar's call for a non-cooperation movement by the farmers has also enthused the party cadres,” NCP spokesman Nawab Malik said in Mumbai.

Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil who belongs to the Congress party, said there was big demand for opposition unity from the people. “The success of the protest march shows that the people want the opposition to stand united. And this has made the government desperate.”