Opposition wants to discredit constitutional bodies, says Fadnavis

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday accused the Congress and its allies of trying to discredit India’s constitutional institutions and attempting to replace the democratic setup with an “extreme Leftist” rule.

Addressing reporters at Mantralaya following a weekly cabinet meeting, Fadnavis said the Opposition was spreading falsehoods to create a perception that constitutional bodies had failed to deliver justice.

“They carry out all unconstitutional activities while holding the Constitution in their hand, and they certainly want an extreme Leftist government to come to power, which is why these activities are being carried out. They want to reject the Constitution of India and want to create negativity in the minds of the people of India; this is what their agitation is about,” he said.

“The kind of anarchy that Congress and opposition are demonstrating makes their objective clear. They want to defame India’s constitutional institutions, to tell lies in such a way that people lose faith in constitutional institutions, and then create a belief in people’s minds that India’s constitutional institutions have collapsed, that they cannot give you justice. After it, they will push to reject the Constitution of India and this is a conspiracy,” he said.

On criticism over Mumbai Police’s handling of the protests by tribal students in Mumbai, Fadnavis said the police acted professionally and did not take action against anyone without justification.

“I had a meeting with the representatives of these students and they congratulated me after their demands were accepted and celebrations were held in Nashik. Despite it, some NSUI office-bearers were attempting to prolong the agitation despite the concerns of genuine students being addressed,” he said.

“Issues raised by students are 100% genuine and the state government had taken positive decisions to resolve them. But the political parties and their leaders are using students to further their own agenda and create anarchy and satisfy their ego,” he said.

Fadnavis also said that the demand to remove the Maharashtra Public Service Commission chairperson VL Bhimanwar was unjust.

“The state government does not have the constitutional power to remove the chairperson directly. The Constitution provides for removal by the President on the recommendation of the Supreme Court under Article 317. We do not want to protect anybody, and to restore the confidence of the students, we have written to the governor to constitute the judicial probe. The government was willing to investigate the entire commission and, if misconduct is established under Article 317, we will recommend to the President against the guilty,” he said.

MPSC aspirants protesting at various parts of Pune have demanded Bhimanwar’s exit, holding him responsible for the paper leaks.

On the steps taken by the government to address the drought, Fadnavis said the government had issued a resolution prioritising drinking water and water for livestock until August next year. Water requirements for industries and agriculture would be considered thereafter, he said.

“District level committees could approach cabinet sub-committee if exceptions for the use of water were required, after which appropriate decisions would be taken,” he said.