NEWSLINKS
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

Rediff Shopping

Shop & gift from thousands of products!   Books     Music       Apparel   Jewellery   Flowers   More..      Safe Shopping

Centre under pressure from Sena: Deshmukh

Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilas Deshmukh on Saturday accused the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party combine of politicising the case against Sena leader Bal Thackeray and said he had not given any assurance to the Central government that he would not be arrested.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the first meeting of the National Commission on Population in New Delhi, Deshmukh refused to say if and when Thackeray would be arrested.

"This is a question for the [Bombay] police commissioner to answer. The government has done its job by giving the go-ahead for his prosecution," he said.

Deshmukh said he had discussed the situation in Maharashtra with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and given no assurance about not arresting Thackeray.

Vajpayee confirmed the discussion, but refused to comment on the details.

Deshmukh said the Centre was under "political pressure" from the Sena, especially after the "resignation" of three of its ministers. "It is under these compulsions that the Centre is not sending additional forces, as is the normal practice if a demand is made by the state government," he added.

He confirmed that the state government had asked the Centre to make alternative arrangements for protecting central installations as the state forces deployed there were needed by the Maharashtra government.

The state government is also in touch with the governments of Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka for additional forces, he said.

On the delay in arresting Thackeray, Deshmukh said the administration wanted to make full arrangements to protect the lives and properties of the common man in the light of threats issued by the Sena of creating law-and-order problems.

Describing the situation in the state as peaceful, Deshmukh said he would not have been present in Delhi otherwise. He was also due to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

UNI

EARLIER REPORT:
Deshmukh arrives in Delhi, may meet prime minister

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report