Public apology doesn’t seem to help Adik escape Dalit ire

Public apology doesn’t seem to help Adik escape Dalit ire
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

MUMBAI, FEB, 11: Categorical denial and subsequent unconditional apology by the MPCC President, Govindrao Adik for his controversial communal remarks does not seem to have contained the pressure on Congress President Sonia Gandhi to sack him.

While Adik has not resigned and neither has Sonia Gandhi asked him to, supporters of Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh have stepped up their campaign for his dismissal.

‘‘No one in the party has asked me to resign. During my visit, I personally called on senior party leaders to explain them the real situation. I feel that the charges made against me are baseless and mainly to malign me as well as the Congress party. I am a born Congressman and how I can abuse the member of the Dalit communities,’’ Adik said.

It has been alleged that during his tour of the drought-hit Marathwada region, Adik spoke against the members of a section of Dalit communities and also abused them by their caste. Taking serious cognizance of his uncalled for utterances, the Republican as well as Dalit Panther activists ransacked the Congress party office at Tilak Bhavan on Friday. In fact, the RPI MP Ramdas Athavale even asked Sonia Gandhi to immediately sack Adik, while BJP spokesperson Atul Bhatkhalkar demanded that an offence under the Provisions of the Protection of Civil Rights Act should be registered against him. ‘‘His statements are serious and attract provisions of law. As such, he should be immediately arrested,’’ Bhatkhalkar said.

Meanwhile, Adik has denied the charge. ‘‘I feel this is a part of vilification campaign against me in view of massive response to my state-wide tour. Since a large number of activists of Sena, BJP as well as the Nationalist Congress Party have joined the Congress, they’re making baseless allegations against me,’’ Adik said in his defense.

More than the opposition, the real threat for Adik comes from within the Congress following his open rivalary with Vilasrao Deshmukh, with whom Adik is at logger heads soon after his nomination as a Chief Minister of Maharashtra. While Sonia Gandhi is yet to take a decision on Adik fate, senior Congress leaders including Prithivraj Chavan, Vilas Muttemwar and Prabha Rau, both MPs, have rushed to New Delhi to stake claim on the coveted post.