The Congress on Tuesday launched a no-holds-barred attack on chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in the Legislative Council. Senior Congress MLC Narayan Rane claimed that Mr Fadnavis is actually one of three chief ministers in the state and his only job is to carry files between Mumbai and Delhi. The NCP also slammed the CM for his handling of the brutal Kopardi rape and murder case, but its criticism of the CM was measured.
Both the Congress and NCP severely criticised the BJP-led government for its ‘inept’ handling of the Kopardi case, in which a 14-year-old girl was tortured and raped by three men at Kopardi in Ahmednagar district. The case has snowballed into a major political controversy because the police delayed registering the case at first and, then, there was a delay in the accused persons, who belong to the Dalit community, being arrested.
Participating in the discussion in the legislative council on the Kopardi rape case, Mr Rane said that the CM has done nothing in his 20 months in office that could justify him being called an able chief minister. “He is one of the three CMs in Maharashtra. I will talk about the third CM some other time. But the second CM is (principal secretary) Pravin Pardeshi,” Mr Rane said.
The Congress leader also alleged that government officers have to please Mr Pardeshi in order to get their desired postings and calibre is no longer a criterion for progress in the state administration. “Mr Fadnavis is the CM only for carrying files between Mumbai and Delhi,” Mr Rane alleged.
On the other hand, leader of the Opposition Dhananjay Munde, who is from the NCP, called Mr Fadnavis an “able CM”. Demanding that the court trial against the arrested persons in the Kopardi rape case be expedited, Mr
Munde said, “I know you (the CM) are very able and effective. But I will salute your ability and effectiveness if you ensure that the trial is concluded within four months and the accused persons are hanged to death in a public place.”
The government has already declared that the trial will be held in a fast-track court and has decided to appoint well-known lawyer Ujjwal Nikam as a special public prosecutor in the case on the request of the victim’s family.
Making a statement after the Opposition created a ruckus in the Assembly on Monday, Mr Fadnavis had said that the accused in the heinous crime have been arrested and the case will be tried in a fast-track court. The government has given Rs 5 lakh compensation to the victim’s family, he said.
