MUMBAI, MARCH 18: Chief Minister Narayan Rane today added more ballast to the Shiv Sena tirade against Arun Bhatia to justify his highly unpopular ouster as the Pune Municipal commissioner. "If he had a problem, there were many ways a good officer like him could get it addressed. By going to the media he intentionally tried to embarrass the Government. This is unpardonable," thundered Rane.He was addressing a press conference after the inauguration of the new premises of the Thane Commissionerate. "To top it," he continued, ``The Opposition is aggravating the issue by instigating people and the media against the alliance government."But the media had him cornered on the Government's other major bugbear in recent times: Ravindra Mane, who resigned yesterday as Minister of State of Urban Development.The Chief Minister found himself in a trap when he told gathered media persons on a query that action against Social Welfare Minister Babanrao Gholap would be taken only after the court passed a verdict on the corruption charges against him. The scribes jumped on him with the question: Why was the same thumb rule not applied in the case of Mane then?Rane had no answer, and only managed to say, "The alliance government is put on trial on a different set of standards than the earlier governments," he said, "Which is very unfortunate."The Chief Minister attempted to do a damage control exercise for Sena chief Bal Thackeray's queer reasoning on Sunday as to why illegal structures should not be demolished: ``I'm sure he does not mean that the structure built on public utility land should be allowed to continue."Speaking on the issue of the project-affected in the Krishna valley project he said, "We have already paid them according to the existing market rates at the time of land acquisition so where is the question of increasing the rates now?Reiterating the position the Government had taken in the Legislature against charges of State bankruptcy, Rane said, ``Rumours that Maharashtra was going through a critical period financially are being spread to create panic but they will not work," he wished.Earlier, in response to the various demands made by DIG Arvind Inamdar and Thane Commissioner of Police Bhujangrao Mohite in his inaugural speech he stated, "I can make no promises since the asembly session is on."Rane also attacked the Opposition "which is intent on spreading the canard that that law and order has broken down in the State". Law and order here, he believed, was the best in the country.The other dignitaries present on the dais included State Minister for Home Ram Kadam, Thane collector Mukesh Khullar, TMC commissioner T S CHadrashekhar (who incidentally got most of the claps even without speaking) and TMC mayor Ramesh Vaity.
