Chandrashekhar Bawankule, the chief of the Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party, has categorically rejected accusations made by opposition parties regarding the recent police action against Maratha quota protestors in Jalna. He refuted claims that the authorities had ordered the police intervention as a diversionary tactic.
The incident in question took place on Friday when the police resorted to baton charges and used tear gas shells to disperse a group of protestors in Antarwali Sarathi on the Dhule-Solapur road. The protestors allegedly obstructed authorities attempting to shift a hunger striker to the hospital, as part of the quota-related agitation. The confrontation resulted in numerous injuries, including 40 police personnel, and the destruction of over 15 State Transport buses. Approximately 360 individuals have been booked in connection with the violence.
Speaking during the BJP's 'Jan Samwad Yatra' and addressing reporters on Sunday, Bawankule called for a high-level inquiry into the Jalna violence to clarify the circumstances surrounding it. He asserted that the state government would never order a lathi charge on agitators, underscoring the need for an impartial investigation.
Bawankule also criticized Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray regarding the Maratha quota issue. He claimed that the reservation granted to the community in jobs and education had been "lost" during Thackeray's tenure as chief minister, while Pawar had remained silent on the matter for four decades.
Sharad Pawar, who visited the injured and hunger strikers at the site of the police action in Jalna on Saturday, reported that the agitators had informed him about a change in police behavior. They alleged that the police, originally cooperative, received a call from higher-ups, leading to a shift in their attitude and the subsequent use of force.
Pawar also mentioned speculations that the incident might have been orchestrated to divert attention from the INDIA bloc meeting that occurred in Mumbai on the same day. Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole echoed this sentiment, alleging that the police's actions were ordered by the government to divert attention from the alliance meet.
