Caught in crossfire

During the Budget session of the Assembly last month,when MLAs sought stern measures for controlling the spurt in crime in Pune,Bagwe had declared that Singh would be transferred. The same day,Patil denied it,saying that the government had not taken any such decision. Later,Patil had said that Bagwe should have consulted him before announcing the decision in the House.

The move of the Pune police has revealed a schism within the ruling allies,as the NCP has always been making efforts to maintain total control over the Home Department. The vacillation of the government over appointing senior police officers like the Director General of Police in the past is a manifestation of the warring allies eager to have the officers of their choice at key positions.

The police in Pune are believed to have acted at the behest of the NCP to fix Bagwe,who had hogged the limelight when Chief Minister Ashok Chavan had taken centrestage and asked Mumbai police to deal strictly with Shiv Sena and MNS agitators disrupting the release of Shah Rukh Khans film,My Name Is Khan.

The Congress has supported Bagwe and demanded action against Singh. How can a police officer hold a press conference to make allegations against his boss? asked the vice-president of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee,Hussain Dalwai. He pointed out that the cases against Bagwe were of political nature.

Most of these cases have already been closed in my favour, Bagwe said. There are three cases pending which are of political nature. On March 24,2001,I had led demonstrations against RSS chief Sudarshan when he visited Pune and was arrested along with 87 Congress workers. On March 26,2001,I was arrested with 33 Congress workers for protesting against BJP chief Bangaru Laxman and on May 19,2004,I had staged a Rasta Roko to protest against the BJPs objection to Sonia Gandhi taking over as the prime minister.

Nevertheless,the passport row has the potential of costing Bagwe his ministerial berth as in his election affidavit he had stated that there were no cases pending against him.

Sensing the grave situation he is in,Bagwe has already flashed his caste card. There is not a single personal offence registered against me8230;I am a loyal party worker from a backward community8230;The allegations against me are motivated to spread hatred against me as I come from a backward class community, he claimed.

An Arts graduate,Bagwe,55,belongs to the Matang community thats listed as a Scheduled Caste. He grew up in Kashiwadi in the Bhavani Peth area of Pune and has been active in the Congress for the past three decades. He has been a close associate of Suresh Kalmadi,the Congress MP from Pune. Bagwe was elected as a member of the Pune Municipal Corporation. He went on to become the Leader of the House in the civic body. He has nurtured his constituency by attending to civic issues. In 2004,he got elected from the Parvati Assembly seat reserved for the SCs. After the delimitation exercise,he shifted from Parvati to Pune Cantonment and got elected.

He had organised a rally for Rahul Gandhi in Pune during the Assembly polls last year. After the 2009 polls,the Narayan Rane group lobbied for a ministerial berth for Vinayak Nimhan,MLA from Shivaji Nagar Pune. However,Chavan chose Bagwe.

Apart from the pulls and pressures between the Congress and the NCP over Bagwe,there is also an intra-party angle. A section of Congressmen,including some Pune leaders,are sore at Bagwes soaring career graph.