MUMBAI, 31 January 2008 — State Revenue Minister Narayan Rane has criticized Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and the Democratic Front state government and said there was a need for the Maharashtra government to think how to overcome its shortcomings.
Rane, who returned to Mumbai after meeting Congress President Sonia Gandhi in Delhi, told journalists, “Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi comes to Mumbai and publicly criticizes the Maharashtra government, but we do not respond to his criticism. This is not good for the Maharashtra government.” He said it was a matter of concern that senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers were leaving government jobs and called for the government to find out the reasons.
Rane refused to comment on the resignation of Dr. T. Chandrashekhar, the vice chairman and chief executive officer of Maharashtra Housing and Development Authority, but when his attention was drawn that several other senior IAS officials had quit government jobs and joined corporate sector, Rane said this warranted serious thinking.
Meanwhile, the Bombay High Court will hear a public interest litigation today filed by Firoz Ansari, a lawyer, seeking an investigation into the July 2006 serial train blasts by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
The blasts killed more than 200 people and injured over 800.
The petition was filed by Ansari after a statement given to the media by Maharashtra Director General of Police Pavender Singh Pasricha that a politician or a legislator had masterminded the blast. The case will be heard by a two-member division bench consisting of Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice J.P. Dewdhar.
Ansari asked the court to order the police chief to disclose the name of the politician who masterminded the blast.
