11 August,2011 07:07 AM IST | | Ravikiran Deshmukh
As the Opposition bayed for the government's blood, asking the Democratic Front alliance to step down after police firing on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway killed three farmers, the CM left it to the NCP to defend the ruling combine.
On Tuesday, farmers in thousands had blocked the e-way to protest a pipeline from Pawana damn to the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) in Pune and police had opened fire on the unarmed agitators to clear the e-way.
As such, the government had a lot to weather in the Legislature meeting yesterday. The firing dominated the proceedings of both the Houses of the Legislature.
While the State Assembly saw five adjournments, the Council was adjourned once.
Standing up to the task, Dy CM Ajit Pawar, Pune's guardian minister, sought to turn tables on the Opposition in the Council by producing a letter written by Shiv Sena's Gajanan Babar in 2002 in support of the contentious pipeline.
All the while, CM Prithviraj Chavan left it to Pawar and RR Patil of the NCP to handle the issue, as the party runs the PCMC and dominates Pune's rural politics.
In the State Assembly, BJP member Sudhir Mungantiwar demanded the resignation of the government, as Leader of the Opposition Eknath Khadse asked for a judicial probe into the incident, and compensation of
Rs 5,00,000 for the dead and Rs 50,000 for the injured, along with free medical treatment.
Cornered, Home Minister RR Patil said, "The probe would be completed within three months. The angle of political instigation would also be looked into."
Admitted that precautions should have been taken to avoid such an incident during an agitation, Patil said, "I have asked the superintendent of police to identify the officials who opened fire and suspend them immediately."u00a0
But implacable Opposition members trooped into the well of the House, shouting slogans against the government. Sanjay Bhegde, BJP MLA from Maval, where the incident took place, rushed to the podium and tried to lift the Speaker's mace.
Back at the Council, Pawar announced government jobs for the next of kin of the casualties. "A decision on the compensation would be taken soon," he said. "A high-level meeting would be convened at Mantralaya within eight days to discuss the issue."
To this, ruling party members thumped their benches only to be chided by Opposition Leader Pandurang Phundkar, who denounced the behaviour as inappropriate, given the gravity of the matter.
