State is in crisis, says Pawar

The senior Congress leader said most parties at the centre, including the newly formed Rashtriya Janata Dal headed by the Bihar chief minister Laloo Prasad Yadav, had taken a serious note of the situation in the state. The Union home minister, Indrajit Gupta, would also be appraised about the near crisis situation in the state, he said.

The collapse of law and order situation in Mumbai, which is the commercial capital of the state, could have nation-wide repercussions, Pawar said adding that the Centre would have to intervene.

On being asked whether the state government should resign on moral grounds, Pawar said the government had nothing to do with morality, making such demand would be futile.

Pawar hoped that the state governor, Dr P C Alexander, would also draw a true picture of the situation in his report. Never before in the state the leader of opposition were attacked. The provocative statements that the Chief Minister and his deputy had been making were translated into violence, he said. Pawar visited Rajawadi hospital and Bhujbal’s residence which was ransacked by Shiv Sainiks. The Congress leader had a meeting with his senior colleagues and the Janata Dal legislator Vyankappa Patki.

On the police firing last Friday, Pawar said he would not like to comment on merits of police firing pending the judicial enquiry. However, he disbelieved the tanker story which the state government had been using to justify police firing.

Meanwhile, opposition leaders urged state Governor to recommend the imposition of the President’s rule in the state in the wake of complete breakdown of constitutional machinery.