The ruling Eknath Shinde-led tripartite ‘Mahayuti’ government seems to be in dissonance over the Jalna lathi-charge incident during the Maratha quota stir. Shiv Sena Minister Deepak Kesarkar has written to Chief Minister Shinde, demanding a stay on the reassignment of Tushar Doshi, the ex-Superintendent of Police of Jalna district, who was recently made Superintendent of the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Pune.
On November 20, the Home Department under Deputy CM and Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis had reassigned Mr. Doshi, under pressure from Maratha quota agitators for allegedly ordering the lathi-charge, had reassigned the erstwhile Jalna SP to the CID, Pune.
In his letter to Mr. Shinde, Mr. Kesarkar said that as Mr. Doshi was accused of ordering the lathi-charge, the order for his re-assignment ought to be put on hold until the inquiry against him was over.
Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange Patil has held Mr. Doshi as being personally responsible for the lathi-charge carried out on quota protestors in Jalna on September 1 and has long demanded Mr. Doshi be suspended. The violent fracas between the protestors and the police, and the subsequent lathi-charge fuelled Mr. Jarange Patil’s rise in the State while giving impetus to Maratha quota demands.
The Opposition lost no time in pouncing on Mr. Kesarkar’s letter, casting it as a perceived schism between the ruling Shiv Sena camp led by Mr. Shinde and the State BJP led by Mr. Fadnavis.
Posting Mr. Kesarkar’s letter on X (formerly Twitter), Maharashtra Leader of Opposition and senior Congressman Vijay Wadettiwar wondered what was wrong with the Shinde government. Mr. Wadettiwar hinted that the letter was Mr. Kesarkar’s indirect rebuff to Mr. Fadnavis.
Mr. Wadettiwar, a prominent OBC leader, batted for the Maratha quota protestors, stating that innocent agitators including elderly citizens and women had been “brutally beaten” during the course of the police’s lathi-charge in Antarwali-Sarati village in Jalna, where quota activist Manoj Jarange Patil had been on a hunger strike.
“The suspense over who exactly gave the orders for this lathi-charge is still not resolved. The Home Minister [Mr. Fadnavis] himself was shamed into apologising to the State for police brutality. Strict action was expected against the Jalna Superintendent of Police Tushar Doshi after the lathi charge. But instead, he was transferred to the CID in Pune,” Mr. Wadettiwar said, in a post on X while quoting Mr. Kesarkar’s letter to the Chief Minister demanding a stay on the Home department’s order.
Recently, Mr. Jarange Patil had hit out against Mr. Doshi’s reassignment, remarking that it appeared to be a ‘reward’ for Mr. Doshi for attacking peaceful Maratha protestors.
However, Mr. Jarange Patil’s bitter foe, OBC leader Chhagan Bhujbal said Mr. Doshi’s reassignment to the CID was “a reward for the restraint” he had shown in face of violent demonstrations by the Maratha quota agitators in Jalna on September 1.
“Maratha women and men had been hurtling stones on the police which led to 70 police personnel being severely injured. Yet, Tushar Doshi showed remarkable restraint and never revealed any of this before the public. He has now got his just reward for this,” Mr. Bhujbal had said earlier this week.
