Congress upset over Uddhav govt’s decision to let NIA probe Elgaar Parishad case

"This is not fair, we are partners and such things should be discussed. You (Uddhav Thackeray) may have power but one should use it judiciously. Our ministers are there, they'll fight," Kharge said.

By: Express Web Desk

New Delhi | Updated: February 15, 2020 08:40 PM IST

2 min read

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Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge hits out at Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

Veteran Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge Saturday expressed his disappointment over Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s decision to let the National Investigation Agency (NIA) take over the probe into the Elgaar Parishad case from the state police.

“This is not fair, we are partners and such things should be discussed. You (Uddhav Thackeray) may have power but one should use it judiciously. Our ministers are there, they’ll fight,” Kharge, AICC general secretary in-charge of Maharashtra, was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Earlier on Friday, a Pune court-ordered transfer of the Elgaar Parishad case records to a special NIA court in Mumbai. Last month, the Centre had transferred the probe into the case from the Pune Police to the NIA, a move then criticised by the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government.

Sharad Pawar, whose NCP is a key constituent of the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, also had trained guns at the Maharashtra CM over the decision. “It was not right for the Centre to hand over the investigation into the case to the NIA. But it was even more wrong for the state government to support the transfer of the case,” he had said.

The NCP supremo had also said that the conduct of police and home department officials handling the case was objectionable.

The case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches delivered at the Elgaar Parishad conclave, held at Shaniwar Wada in Pune on December 31, 2017, which the Pune Police had claimed, triggered violence near the Koregaon Bhima war memorial in the district the next day. The police have claimed the conclave was backed by Maoists.

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