© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance has accused the Maharashtra government of raking up the death of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s former manager Disha Salian to counter its offensive against Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the ruling coalition over the alleged Nagpur land scam and to influence the agenda of the legislature during the ongoing Winter Session of the state legislature.
Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also holds the home portfolio, on Thursday informed the Assembly that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) would be formed to probe the death of Salian. She died on June 8, 2020, after falling off the 14th floor of a residential building in Malad, Mumbai. The Mumbai Police registered an accidental death report. Sushant Singh Rajput died six days later. “The ruling parties have managed to effectively counter the Opposition’s agenda for the legislature, including the Maharashtra-Karnataka border issue, and the CM’s involvement in the land scam in Nagpur. The right word for this is subterfuge. This is an old issue and there is no reason to bring it up now. This is to shift the focus and create headlines,” said a senior MVA leader. The issue of Salian’s death was raised in the House by MLAs of the BJP and the Eknath Shinde faction of Shiv Sena (the Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena). Later in the day, BJP legislator Nitesh Rane demanded that a narco test be conducted on Aaditya Thackeray, leader of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena faction, to “bring out the truth” behind Salian’s death. Nitesh Rane alleged that Salian was murdered and that there was an attempt to cover it up as a high-profile politician was present at the same party as her before she died.
The BJP has claimed that the Salian death is not a political issue and if new evidence is available, the state government is duty-bound to investigate.
On Friday, the Salian case and the SIT were the talking points in both the Houses of the legislature for the second day in a row.
The war of words between the Opposition and the ruling coalition led to the suspension of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) state president Jayant Patil on Thursday after he asked Speaker Rahul Narvekar “not to behave like a shameless person”. The Speaker had not allowed the Opposition to discuss another case after Fadnavis announced the SIT.
On Thursday, both Houses of the legislature were adjourned multiple times and on Friday the MVA boycotted the session for the day over Patil’s suspension. The session was adjourned for the day a little after noon.
Defending Patil, a senior Opposition leader said, “It was very well-planned. There was a strategy in how it played out. None of the Opposition leaders were given a chance to talk on the floor of the House. Adjournments were timed in between speeches of the ruling coalition MLAs. Everyone from the Opposition was frustrated. We wanted to bring several things on record and we were not allowed to do it.”
Said another MVA leader, “It appears that they (the two Sena factions) are settling political scores. Look at who rallied after the issue was raised. The Ranes have a rivalry with the Thackerays, and they made personal attacks on one member of the Thackeray family. And the BJP is letting it take shape.”
Dismissing the allegations, a BJP leader said, “This issue was not raised by the BJP. It was, in fact, first raised by MP Rahul Shewale in Parliament, then by another leader of the Shiv Sena (BSS) in the Assembly. Maybe during their time together, they had information about something and want to bring it to light now. It is the government’s job to investigate any new evidence if it is incriminating. This is not a political decision.”
Shewale has distanced himself from the matter, pointing out in a statement to the media on Thursday, that business in Parliament and the Maharashtra legislature were separate things.
“The demand was not the Shiv Sena’s. It was done by the Akali Dal and a discussion started. Before me, as many as five MPs spoke and asked for information from the home minister regarding the death of Sushant Singh Rajput. I spoke after and based on the points in their discussion, I asked for more information,” he said in a statement. Shewale said none of this had anything to do with the BJP. Political analyst Hemant Desai said, “It appears this (raising the Salian case) was done to shift the focal point of the narrative in this session of Maharashtra legislature and put the Opposition on the back foot.”
