NCP’s Mitkari withdraws remarks against IPS officer

On Friday, Mitkari had sought information from the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on Krishna’s educational and caste qualifications, which were foundational in her appointment as an IPS officer

MUMBAI: NCP spokesperson and MLC, Amol Mitkari, has apologised for remarks he made against a woman IPS officer in Solapur, while attempting to defend his party chief and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar.

NCP spokesperson and MLC, Amol Mitkari. (HT Photo)

After a strong backlash for further undermining the IPS officer, Anjana Krishna, who was earlier berated by Pawar for attempting to halt a group of men from sand mining, Mitkari said in a tweet on Saturday: “I unconditionally retract the tweet I made regarding the Solapur incident and express my apology. This was not my party’s position but my personal opinion. I have the highest respect for our police force and the officers who serve honestly. I completely agree with the position of the party’s senior leadership.”

On Friday, Mitkari had sought information from the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on Krishna’s educational and caste qualifications, which were foundational in her appointment as an IPS officer. He said he had sought the information, wondering how Krishna could not recognise Pawar’s voice. “She is working in Maharashtra and doesn’t even know the deputy chief minister of that state,” Mitkari had said in a tweet on Friday.

The NCP leader’s comments only further stoked a controversy triggered by Pawar, who had instructed Krishna, over the phone, not to halt the alleged illegal sand mining, on the request of a local NCP leader. When Krishna asked Pawar to call on her own mobile phone, to confirm that she was indeed speaking to the deputy chief minister, he reacted with sarcasm and added that administrative action would be taken against her.

Pawar’s reaction, caught on camera, made matters worse, prompting the senior politician to clarify his stand. He said he had never intended to interfere with law enforcement but to “ensure that the situation on the ground remained calm and did not escalate further”.

On Sunday, NCP chief spokesperson Anand Paranjpe reiterated Pawar’s stand, saying the NCP chief and deputy chief minister had clarified that his phone call to Krishna was not meant to interfere with law enforcement in Solapur. “His intervention was to ensure that law and order would not be disturbed. The NCP has nothing more to say on the issue,” Paranjpe told the media.

The controversy took another twist in the afternoon, when social activist Anjali Damania sought an inquiry against Pawar, and demanded his resignation till the inquiry was completed. She made the demand in a legal notice sent to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Damania said the incident (the altercation between Pawar and Krishna) was a gross abuse of political office, interference in an investigation, obstruction of the discharge of duty by a public servant, and overt intimidation of an IPS officer in the field. “Such conduct is not only reprehensible but also strikes at the very root of the rule of law and the integrity of the justice system,” she said in her legal notice sent to Fadnavis.

“It is imperative that an independent, transparent and time-bound probe be instituted against him,” Damania added.

But, on Sunday, the NCP was pulling out all the stops. Party spokesperson Sanjay Tatkare alleged that Pawar was being targeted. The matter, he claimed, was a misunderstanding. “The gram panchayat had passed a resolution to repair a road in the village, for which excavation was underway, which she (Krishna) considered illegal excavation. According to various videos that appeared on social media platforms, the language barrier also played a role in the misunderstanding between the IPS officer and the villagers, which led to the issue as she was unable to understand Marathi,” he claimed.

Tatkare also stressed that the IPS officer should have brought the matter to the attention of senior revenue officials as excavation activity relates to the state revenue department.