Congress and NCP Demand Withdrawal of False Bhima-Koregaon Cases; BJP Calls It 'Support to Naxalsim'

Mumbai: The Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government is in favour of granting relief to those who were falsely framed in cases related to the 2018 Koregaon-Bhima violence, state minister and NCP leader Jayant Patil said on Wednesday.

Patil, however, said the right to take decision in this connection rests with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray as portfolios are yet to be allocated to ministers.

Following coalition partner NCP's footsteps, the Congress demanded withdrawal of cases registered against protesters involved in the Maratha reservation agitation and Dalit activists who had protested against the Bhima-Koregaon violence.

In a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Congress leader Naseem Khan said both the agitations were for seeking "natural justice". The Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government, therefore, should withdraw the cases filed against Dalit and Maratha activists, he said.

Attacking Congress and NCP’s demand of withdrawal of false Bhima-Koregaon cases, opposition BJP dubbed it as a "blatant support to naxalism".

"The NCP's demand for withdrawal of cases is a blatant support to naxalism. Even the (Pune) court has admitted that there has been some primary evidence against the accused persons, which is the reason the court did not accept their bail applications," BJP state chief spokesperson Madhav Bhandari said.

"We have received memorandums from several people claiming they were falsely framed in connection with the Koregaon-Bhima (violence). Such steps were taken in the past too," NCP’s Patil said.

"The government wants to see nobody faces injustice...the government does not want to trouble anyone...the government's view is to give relief to those who were falsely framed in cases," he added.

Patil said the government will not support anyone who played any intentional role in the violence that had erupted at Koregaon-Bhima village in Pune district on January 1, 2018, a day after alleged inflammatory speeches were made at a conclave, 'Elgar Parishad, organised to commemorate 200 years of a famous battle between the Peshwas and the East India Company.

"But there is no need to create confusion and more importantly, I have not become the home minister of Maharashtra yet. All the rights are with the chief minister till the portfolios are allocated," he said.

Notably, NCP MLA Dhananjay Munde had on Tuesday demanded withdrawal of cases related to Koregaon-Bhima violence, claiming the previous BJP-led NDA government had slapped "false" cases against those named in the incident, including social activists.