Kankavli town is peaceful, action shifts to Mumbai

In Mumbai, Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh asked the Shiv Sena to put an end to the politics of terror and murder, while Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray demanded the dismissal of the Congress-led Democratic Front (DF) government on the grounds that the law and order situation had deteriorated.

Deshmukh, accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, called on Governor Mohammed Fazal to brief him on the law and order situation in the wake of the murder of NCP activist Satyavijay Bhise and the subsequent attack on Rane’s bungalow.

A high-level Shiv Sena delegation comprising Uddhav Thackeray, Union Minister for Heavy Industries Balasaheb Vikhe Patil, Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Nirupam, Opposition (Council) leader Nitin Gadkari and Mumbai BJP President Vinod Tawde also met the Governor.

NCP Rajya Sabha member Praful Patel and state NCP president Baban Pachpute also called on Fazal and demanded the immediate arrest of Rane since, according to them, he was indirectly involved in the conspiracy to eliminate Bhise.

In their memorandum to Fazal, Deshmukh and Bhujbal alleged that the Shiv Sena has resorted to these tactics to subjugate its political opponents in the state.

Launching a frontal attack on the Shiv Sena, Deshmukh alleged that Bhise was the third victim of Shiv Sena’s terror tactics. The first victim, according to him, was Shreedhar Naik, who was killed in 1991. The second victim was S.Y. Bhilare. ‘‘We fight our battles politically. We never indulged in violence,’’ Deshmukh said.

Both Deshmukh and Bhujbal also specifically made a mention of the past history of Rane in their memorandum. ‘‘Rane was one of the accused in the Shreedhar Naik murder case. However, he was acquitted by the sessions court, but then the Sena-BJP government rejected police plea for filing an appeal in the case,’’ Bhujbal said, adding that in the Shreedhar Naik case, Bhise was the main witness, who had identified the accused.

Uddhav Thackeray also submitted a memorandum to Fazal, saying, there was complete breakdown of the law and order machinery. ‘‘We told Fazal that since there was complete collapse of the law and order machinery, he should recommend immediate dismissal of the DF government by invoking Article 356 of the Constitution,’’ Thackeray added.