Sudhakar Rao Naik, the chief minister of Maharashtra resigned On Feb.22 at Delhi; He submitted his resignation to the Prime Minister during the 40 minute meeting with Rao.
Earlier he arrived at Delhi on the Summons of the Congress High Command which opted for a Change in leadership to put an end to the 10 day high drama that saw Naik and the supporters of eight Defence Minister Sharad Pawar level many charges and counter charges, Narsimha Rao is continuing discussions with senior leaders on the political crisis in Maharashtra and the selection of a Suitable successor to Naik.
Sharad Pawar’s reaction to the resignation were subdued, He said that he had always treated Naik as a “member of my family” and was not aware what had brought about the bitterness in the relations recently. However he would always cherish only happy memories of his relationship with Naik. His Present task, Sharad Pawar said would be to work for strengthening the Congress in Maharashtra and the hands of the Prime Minister, 2 There was an increasing pressure on Naik to step down in the wake of the State Government’s failure to handle the anti-Muslim riots in Bombay which saw over 1000 Muslims killed and thousands terrorized to flee the city after facing nine days of hell and an orgy of devastation by fanatic Shiva Sena Supporters. The state police not only failed to provide protection to the hapless Muslims but openly sided with the crowds. The state government remained sadly paralyzed during all this. It called in worldwide criticism and the chief minister was being blamed for failure to keep peace and order. All this had gravely undermined the Naik’s authority and his resignation became inevitable. Revolt by Ministers on Feb.12, six of his ministers, all supporters of Defence Minister Sharad Pawar staged a revolt against the Chief Minister refusing to accept his leadership. They were in tum dismissed by the Chief Minister. This prompted the Congress High Command to rush three observers to Bombay. The observers, HKL Bhagat, ND Tiwar and G K Moopanar spent three days in the city to have a firsthand knowledge of the crisis and review the developments. Naik in the meanwhile launched an open attack on Sharad Pawar accusing him of indulging in antiparty activities with a view to grab the prime minister ship of the country. He quoted the leader of the opposition in the legislative assembly Gopinath Mundhe as his source. He said Pawar wanted to set up a coalition government in Maharashtra with the help of his supporters in Congress And those in the opposition after dislodging the present lawfully elected Congress (I) government, He said that when Pawar’s supporters realized that they did not have majority support, they met two Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, Pramod Mahajan and Dharam chand Choradia to explore the possibility of reviving the Progressive Democratic Front. Pawar was leader of the PDF government in 1978 and had formed front after overthrowing the government of Vasantdada Patil of which he was a minister.
Naik accused Sharad Pawar of planning to play the same game at the Center as the next step; the statement of Naik had added a new dimension to the political developments in Maharashtra in the wake of the sack of the six ministers.
While the Defence Minister and his supporter like Swesh Kalmedi have welcomed the resignation of Naik, others like A.R.Antulay, and N.K.Tirpude, former chief minister and deputy chief ministers of Maharashtra have requested the Prime Minister not to forward the resignation letter to the Governor. They fear that the crisis Congress (I) Maharashtra is not over and have threatened an agitation for expulsion of Sharad Pawar.
Article extracted from this publication >> February 26, 1993
