Athavale seeks immediate handover of land

He said the Prime Minister’s deadline of January 31 had passed and threatened that the protest could take a “different form” if an early decision does not come. “January 31 was the deadline set for Union Textiles Minister Anand Sharma by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Why hasn’t the land been given yet?” he asked.

Athavale had earlier set January 26 as a deadline for the handover,a threat termed as tokenism by the Congress since a committee was to submit a report on the modalities of the land handover by January 31.

State government officials said the committee had discussed various issues regarding the handover,including possible additional FSI for other properties owned by the National Textile Corporation (NTC) in Mumbai. A decision is now to be taken in New Delhi.

On December 6 last year,observed as ‘Mahaparinirvan Din’ when lakhs of Ambedkar followers visit Chaityabhoomi,more than 500 men stormed the mill premises and claimed they had “taken possession” of the land. They were led by Anandraj Ambedkar,grandson of Dr Ambedkar and president of the Republican Sena.

About a dozen protesters stayed on the premises for over three weeks even as the Bombay High Court responded to a plea filed by the landowner,NTC,and ordered the government to evict the squatters forcefully if necessary.

After the Central government’s nod to hand over the entire mill land for the memorial and the formation of a committee to chalk out the nitty-gritties of the handover of the valuable seaside plot that the NTC considered a major asset,the Republican Sena has fallen silent on the issue.

The Athavale-led RPI has taken up the mantle by staging a protest outside the Chief Minister’s office inside state government headquarters last week

and then gheraoing Chavan and state Congress president Manikrao Thakre at the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee office on Friday.