BJP, Sena spar in cabinet meeting

Mumbai: Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting witnessed an uproar over the death of Dhule farmer Dharma Patil, which also caused more bickering between the Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The Sena mouthpiece Saamana attacked chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’s government in and editorial, stating that the flames of the Dharma Patil pyre would “burn the seats of power”.  

Finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, however, warned the Sena not to politicise the issue.

The minister, who arrived later, said, “There are 12 ministers of the party (Shiv Sena) in the government and they are a part of the decision-making process. Their chairs are not fireproof. So it will affect them also.”

Mr Fadnavis took serious note of the death and asked the chief secretary to conduct an inquiry within a week, said Mr Mungantiwar.

Transport minister and Shiv Sena leader Diwakar Raote had raised the issue of Patil’s death in the Cabinet.

He said, “This is a very serious issue and defamatory to the government. Tourism minister Jaykumar Rawal is passing the buck on to the earlier government. Butit had not done anything, so the people voted us to power. So why wasn’t the issue resolved in three or four years?”

Mr Raote, who told The Asian Age that he had raised this issue on behalf of Shiv Sena, demanded that action be taken against the officers responsible.