‘Raj Thackeray’s MNS is a goonda outfit’

RR Patil, Maharashtra’s Home Minister, tells RANA AYYUB he would consider banning the MNS if he had the power

Photo: DEEPAK SALVI

The city has been held to ransom by Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. Action, as always, has been too little too late.
We have arrested Raj thackeray within two days. We cannot be blamed for displaying a lax attitude.

But action was taken only because there was an uproar in Parliament.
There certainly has been no pressure on us whatsoever. We are not acting at anyone’s behest. It was a decision taken after looking into the evidence that we had found. Now, it’s up to the court to decide what to do with him. The government has done its duty.

Would you call the MNS a terrorist outfit?
It is goondagiri. Raj Thackeray said this government was spineless and we have shown him the kind of spine this government has.

But the arrest seems to be just a face-saving exercise. Even earlier, the Home Department had said that there was no case against Raj Thackeray.
We were given an opinion by the Law and Judiciary Department that there was no case against him, but this time we have done our part.

The Shiv Sena too has claimed responsibility for the attack on north Indians. Will the Shiv Sena leaders, too, be arrested?
We have arrested a number of Shiv Sena workers. If we get evidence against them we will certainly act. No person is above the law.

Raj Thackeray had called you and Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh spineless ministers and had dared you to arrest him. Will you consider banning the MNS?
The truth is that we don’t have the power to ban the MNS. If we had, we would have certainly looked into it. Raj Thackeray had said that we should show the courage to arrest him and we have done so.

You have said that the government would offer compensation for the damage suffered by people all over Maharashtra on account of the violence by the MNS and you have even gone ahead and said that you would recover the money from the MNS. Would that be done?
We are looking into it, but there is no such provision or law by which this can be done.

BJP state leader Nitin Gadkari has said that the government has been a mute spectator to the attack on north Indians as there has been a tacit understanding between the MNS and the ruling alliance.
Let us not get political equations into this. The opposition should realise that this is a serious issue and it should not be politicised.

But is it not true that the government has actually been a mute spectator right from the attack on Amitabh Bachchan’s film, to the signboards issue, to the recent attack. The Congress-NCP alliance has played a major role in contributing to the popularity and notoriety of Raj Thackeray.
This is what has been speculated, but it is totally untrue. Be it Raj Thackeray’s MNS or any other political party, and this includes my party workers, I will say this — party workers who take the law in their hands will be punished.