Gupta unhappy with Maharashtra law and order situation

The law and order situation in Maharashtra is not satisfactory, Home Minister Indrajit Gupta said on Wednesday.

Gupta was in the city to review the situation in Bombay following the death of 10 dalits in police firing on July 11.

"It is unfortunate that after the dalit killings... the house of legislative council Opposition leader Chhagan Bhujbal was also ransacked," he said at a press conference at Raj Bhavan.

"I am not authorised to dismiss the Maharashtra state government," he said, adding that Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral had sent him over to assess the situation. "Now that I have got a fair assessment of ground realities, I will discuss them with the prime minister... Thereafter our government will decide what needs to be done...," the home minister said.

However, Gupta clarified that he did not feel the state government had to be dismissed because Bhujbal's house was ransacked by Shiv Sainiks on July 13. "Our Constitution does not say that a government can be dismissed merely on the basis of an attack on the Opposition leaders's house. Dismissal can be justified only if the attack was pre-planned."

Asked if Article 356, which deals with government dismissals, will be invoked, Gupta said the Inter-State Council would meet in the next few days to discuss the matter. Asked if he felt that Article 356 ought to be applied in this case, he said one should see that the provision was not misused. He said the home ministry was also being updated daily on the situation by Governor P C Alexander.

Regarding the desecration of the Ambedkar statue and the killing of dalits, Gupta said, "The Maharashtra government has already ordered a judicial inquiry into the incident and it is not appropriate on my part to comment on the details of the incident."

Asked if he knew that Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray had condoned the attack in his party newspaper Saamna, the minister claimed ignorance, stating, "Bal Thackeray met me and condemned the attack on Shri Bhujbal's house which, in his opinion, was spontaneous. Mr Thackeray assured me that there would be no repetition of such incidents." Thackeray, who met Maharashtra Governor Alexander on Tuesday evening, again went to Raj Bhavan to meet Gupta.