BOMBAY, 29 June 2005 — Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, on a visit to United States, finds himself in a bit of a spot with the state Congress party President Prabha Rau blasting Deshmukh for acting unilaterally on the dance bar ordinance.
She said the chief minister did not take party officer bearers into confidence over the dance bar ban ordinance that was rejected by the state Governor S.M. Krishna.
The ordinance has been sent back to the government to be passed as a bill. Rau backed the governor for refusing to sign the ordinance banning dance bars, saying the governor was right and acted wisely. Asked whether the ordinance was right or wrong, Rau said that she would discuss this issue with the chief minister on his return from his US visit.
The chief minister had not provided her with any information prior to taking a decision to send the ordinance to the governor for sanction, she said, adding that the governor had followed the proper constitutional procedure and acted according to the law by sending the ordinance back to the government.
The governor’s move has triggered a spat between the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the coalition partner in the Democratic Front government. Rau’s fresh onslaught also indicated that Deshmukh is in for a rough ride. Rau denied that she had any differences with the chief minister. She also said that Congress would soon emerge as the dominant party in the state with members from the NCP, Shiv Sena and Republican Party of India joining the Congress very soon. On Cabinet expansion, Rau said that as the chief minister did not have time in his hands, hence the Cabinet expansion has been delayed.
Meanwhile, the state Director General of police Dr. Parvinder Singh Pasrciha recently told a gathering of police officers at the launch of the website of the state CID, that the department is determined to root out cops who bring disgrace to the force.
