Be cautious, don't raise temperature -- Governor tells Maharashtra govt

Be cautious, don't raise temperature -- Governor tells Maharashtra govt
HARISH GUPTA & PRAFULLA MARPAKWAR

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI, JULY 24: Maharashtra Governor P C Alexander is understood to have cautioned the Congress-led Democratic Front government not to take any step which can cause a serious law and order problem.

In his special report on the situation in the State following the government's decision to prosecute Sena chief Bal Thackeray, the Governor has emphasised that the State should explore and exhaust all other options before arresting him.

Shorn of the diplomatese, it simply means that the State should avoid arresting the Sena Chief and leave the matter to the courts. Many political leaders have also expressed this view over the last few days but Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal has refused all facing-saving formulas put forward (see story along side).

Alexander sent this report to President K R Narayanan (with a copy to Union Home Minister L K Advani) on July 21 from his Pune Raj Bhavan where he spends the monsoon months.

Though it is not clear how Alexander conveyed his views to the ruling Congress and NCP leaders on the subject, his report makes it amply clear that he has advised caution.

Alexander has apparently cited the very sensitive situation in Mumbai as the reason why the state government should exercise extreme caution. The frequent transfers of policemen in the state, he is believed to have said, have put a question mark over the efficacy of the force to deal with large-scale disturbances and prevent damage to public and private property.

That, he has observed, would dent the image of Mumbai and the Maharashtra government at the national and international level.

Importantly, the Governor has also suggested that in the whole question of Thackeray's prosecution, it was the minority partner, the NCP, that has taken the lead and that the Congress has played a secondary role. The Congress, he has pointed out, was committed to implementing the Srikrishna report and has taken the view that the two cases (under which Thackeray is being prosecuted now) were not the subject matter before the commission.

He has also said that things had reached such a stage because of personal differences between leaders on either side, the undertone perhaps being that it was not worth staking peace and loss of innocent lives for such petty political battles.

Alexander, who is known to have a good relationship with leaders of all political parties, has also conveyed to the Centre that he was watching the situation.

A high-ranking Home Ministry official confirmed that the Governor's report has been received and the Centre has taken steps accordingly. ``We have taken into account the Governor's report along with other inputs while handling the situation. We are confident that the Maharashtra government will act wisely,'' he said.