A day after Saturday’s riots, the Opposition parties have started turning the heat on Maharashtra home minister R.R. Patil. The Opposition parties also questioned the decision to allow Raza Academy to hold protests at Azad Maidan. A delegation of BJP leaders on Sunday met chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and demanded the resignation of the home minister as well as suspension of Mumbai police commissioner Arup Patnaik. The BJP has also demanded a judicial probe into the entire incident and sought to know the name of the minister who pressurised the police to allow protests to be held at Azad Maidan.
Expressing displeasure over Saturday’s violence, BJP leader Vinod Tawde said, “It is strange that even Anna Hazare was not allowed to hold his fast at Azad Maidan on the grounds of security. He was asked to shift his agitation to the MMRDA ground at BKC. Then why was Raza Academy not asked to hold their protests in suburbs?”
The BJP’s alliance partner Shiv Sena has even demanded the President’s intervention.
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BJP: maha has lot to answer for
AGE CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi, Aug. 12
The BJP on Sunday said hooliganism at Azad Maidan in Mumbai was a complete failure of the security and intelligence network of the state government. The party demanded that all those responsible for creating violent scenes during a demonstration against Assam riots on Saturday, should be arrested.
The party alleged that the Maharashtra government “allowed this to happen” despite been informed by the Maharashtra ATS about infiltration of terrorist groups into the state.
“It is a complete failure of the security and intelligence network of the Maharashtra government... I think, they have a lot to answer as to how they allowed this kind of hooliganism to happen in the heart of the city creating a fear psychosis among the people,” said BJP national spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman.