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Recall Maharashtra governor: Congress to Centre
The Maharashtra Congress has raised a strong objection to the statements by Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on former prime minister late Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
The Maharashtra Congress has raised a strong objection to the statements by Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on former prime minister late Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Terming Koshyari’s remarks as an insult to the people of the country, Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole demanded that the Union Ministry of Home Affairs call him back immediately.
Koshyari on Monday had criticised Nehru and said that the first PM’s policies weakened the country.
“I admire Pandit Nahru, but he had the biggest weakness. He wanted to become a messenger of peace and release pigeons. Due to this weakness, the nation has become weak and remained in the same position for a long period,” he remarked.
“Nehruji’s contribution to the country after independence helped India in becoming self-reliant in the world. The hatred toward Nehruji is the preaching of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and reflects in the governor’s remarks. The governor is expected to act as a constitutional head of the state by rising above politics. However, the statements by Koshyariji in the past exhibit the ideology of a particular organisation. He has been acting against the government and in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). If he has political aspirations, he should first resign from the constitutional post. The Union government should recall him immediately,” said Patole.
Maharashtra BJP vice-president Madhav Bhandari said, “Patole’s demand to recall the honourable governor is a political stunt. It is an attempt to showcase the loyalty towards the Gandhi-Nehru families. There is nothing wrong in criticising Nehru.”
Patole has also demanded the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to go for a judicial probe in the Pegasus case, on the lines of the investigation being done by the West Bengal government.
“The Central government has failed to order an inquiry into the Pegasus row even after it came to the light that hundreds of influential people were under surveillance. The MVA government should initiate an inquiry by a retired high court judge on the lines of the inquiry announced by West Bengal government led by Mamata Banerjee. The phones of politicians, lawyers, social activists and journalists were hacked since 2017 as per the reports. In Maharashtra too, the phones of political leaders from opposition parties were tapped by the then Devendra Fadnavis government. It needs to be probed if there was any link with the phone hacking software developed by Israeli firm NSO Group,” he said.
“I think the state government should admit Patole’s demand. A probe should also be conducted into Patole’s allegations that his phones, too, were being tapped,” remarked Bhandari, hinting at the earlier allegations made by the state Congress chief that he was being kept under surveillance by allies Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
The Pegasus row erupted on July 18, a night before the beginning of the current monsoon session of the Parliament, after an international investigative consortium reported that India was the among countries that had used NSO Group’s phone hacking software to potentially target politicians, journalists and activists.
