Pressure piling on PM to act tough on Raj

Pressure piling on the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take strong measures against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader Raj Thackeray for his rabble-rousing activities and inflicting violence against North Indians.

In the Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister held on Thursday, major allies from UP and Bihar backed by several Congress ministers made a strong demand to book Raj Thackeray under National Security Act (NSA) and asked for a judicial inquiry into the killing of two youths from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in Maharashtra.

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Under immense pressure from its key allies, chiefly Lalu Prasad and Ram Vilas Paswan and, the Union Cabinet unanimously decided to act tough on Raj Thackeray.

It is learnt that Prime Minister Singh divulged that he had already written a “strongly worded” letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh after his meeting with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and asked Home Minister Shivraj Patil to convey the anger and collective strong sentiments of the Cabinet to the State government.

The Home Minister said he had sent three advisory to the Maharashtra government but UPA allies were not convinced.

In absence of the Lalu Prasad at the meeting, the Lok Jan Shakti party leader and Steel and Fertilizer Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, who led the charge against Thackeray’s campaign, is believed to have said that the Central and State government's failure to take required action is raising the demand on him and Lalu to resign.

The arrest and release drama by the State government and not to book Raj Thackeray under the required Sections of the CrPC, more or less signals that the Vilas Rao Deshmukh’s government is not sincere enough to tackle the issue, the LJP leader said.

Paswan was supported by RJD’s P C Gupta and Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and Congress ministers H R Bhardwaj, Kapil Sibbal and Jaipal Reddy who also demanded judicial probe into the killing of Rahul Raj and Dharamdev Rai.

Lalu Prasad, who was in Patna, has already demanded judicial inquiry into the two killings.

Rahul Raj, a 23-year-old youth from Bihar, angry to Raj Thackeray’s incessant attack on North Indians, was shot dead by Mumbai Police on October 27 when attempting to hijack a city bus at a gunpoint and a day later Dharamdev Rai, 25, a labourer from Uttar Pradesh was killed in a running train in Mumbai by a group of Marathi-speaking people, only because he was a North Indian.