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Pawar criticises Centre for not providing additional forces to Maharashtra

Swati Kulkarni in Bombay

Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar criticised the Centre on Friday for its refusal to provide additional paramilitary forces to Maharashtra to counter threats of violence by the Shiv Sena in case its leader Bal Thackeray is arrested.

The former Union defence minister said it was the Centre's duty to respond to requests for assistance from a state government. Neither the Centre nor the state government should fall prey to pressure tactics, he remarked.

He said the state government's position had been strengthened by the events in the Supreme Court on Friday. He said there was no need to wait for the court's decision now and the state government could act on the Srikrishna Commission's report.

Those who take law and order into their hands will have to face the consequences, he said.

At the same time, Pawar appeared to distance himself from the Democratic Front government's decision to allow the prosecution of Thackeray under Section 153-A of the Indian Penal Code for spreading enmity between communities.

Pawar clarified he had not been consulted before the decision was taken. Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal had informed him once the decision was taken, he added.

He said the decision to sanction Thackeray's prosecution was purely administrative and it was now up to the police to take action.

He said Bhujbal must have considered all the consequences before clearing the file put up by the police.

The NCP chief, however, added that implementing the Srikrishna Commission's report was a part of the election manifestoes of both the Congress and the NCP, and as such the DF government was only fulfilling its pledge to the people.

As for the Shiv Sena's complaint that one man's vendetta was causing a law-and-order problem, Pawar retorted that it was a collective decision and not an individual one, and the entire government stood by it.

Referring to the Sena's threats of violence if Thackeray were arrested, Pawar quipped, "They are only giving more opportunities for the state to prosecute them."

Referring to the Centre's denial of additional forces, Pawar said the National Democratic Alliance government appeared to be trying to create a situation in the state for the imposition of Article 356 of the Constitution. "They seem to have forgotten Bihar in just 10 months," he said, referring to the abortive bid to dismiss Rabri Devi's government in September last year.

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