In the aftermath of a police lathi-charge on Maratha protesters who were demanding reservation rights, the opposition in Maharashtra has rallied to demand the resignation of deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, holding him accountable for the incident and accusing him of grossly failing in his role as the state’s home minister in maintaining peace.
Vijay Wadettiwar, the Leader of Opposition and a Congress MLA, firmly placed the responsibility for the incident on Fadnavis and called for his immediate resignation. He emphasized that without directives from Mumbai, the police would not have resorted to using force against the protesters in Jalna, located near Aurangabad.
Former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan echoed Wadettiwar’s sentiment, asserting that Fadnavis had failed in his duty to protect the Maratha community protesters and should step down.
However, Fadnavis defended the police’s use of force, asserting that it was deployed in response to protesters attempting to hurl stones at law enforcement personnel. He pointed out a historical parallel by mentioning a lathi-charge against the tribal Govari community in Nagpur in 1994, during Sharad Pawar’s tenure as chief minister. Fadnavis questioned why he should resign now when Sharad Pawar did not step down during that earlier incident.
Sharad Pawar, chief of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), visited Jalna to meet the injured protesters in the hospital and alleged that the incident occurred due to chief minister Eknath Shinde’s failure to keep his word. Pawar expressed concern over the use of force, highlighting that the police did not spare women, children, or senior citizens during the clash. He firmly asserted that without instructions from Mumbai, the police would not have resorted to lathi-charging, ultimately placing the blame on Fadnavis for failing to maintain law and order.
In response to Fadnavis’ comparison, Sharad Pawar recalled that during his government, Madhukar Pichad, the social justice minister, had resigned from the cabinet, taking moral responsibility for the 1994 episode.
