Pulwama martyrs political victims, says MNS chief

Mumbai: In an apparent attack on the Central government, Maharashtra Navni-rman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray in a rally in Kolhapur on Sunday alleged that the martyrs of the Pulwama attacks were political victims. He also demanded that a thorough probe of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval should be conducted to uncover the reality behind the attack. Mr Thackeray embarked on a three-day tour of Kolhapur on Sunday.

Expressing his fears, the MNS chief said in order to ensure that the voters forget all about demonetisation, 'corruption' with regard to the Rafale deal and other doings of the government in the past 4.6 years, the government would do something big to divert attention in the beginning or middle of the election. He said, "I would not say much. I will bring these things up in the election."

The MNS chief said that when Pulwama attacks took place, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was doing a film shooting at Jim Corbett National Park. Even after knowing about Pulwama attack, he did not stop the shooting, he alleged.

Targeting the government over its plans to stop the flow of river water to Pakistan, Mr Thackeray asked, "Are you going to obstruct the flow of rivers to Pakistan by placing (BJP president) Amit Shah in them?"

Stating that Union minister Nitin Gadkari had warned that the water supply would be stopped to Pakistan, the MNS chief asked rhetorically whether the flow of rivers was tap water, whose supply could be shut instantly. He also brought up the existence of the international wa-ter treaty and said that when water is being supplied via two to three countries, could one country stop its flow.