Schism within Maharashtra government over Jalna lathi-charge incident

Mahayuti govt in dissonance over Jalna lathi-charge incident; Shiv Sena Minister writes to CM Shinde demanding stay on reassignment of ex-Jalna SP Tushar Doshi to CID, Pune; Opposition pounces on letter, hinting at schism between Shinde & Fadnavis camps; Maratha quota activists & OBC leader divided on Doshi's reassignment.

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.