“Even after the decisions taken after the cabinet briefing, news against me are systematically leaked by my colleagues in the cabinet, and this is sheer violation of the oath of secrecy taken by them,” Patil said in a statement released in his blog.
In a hard hitting statement Patil said “The discussions and conclusions of the State Cabinet meeting found its way to the press and got proper mileage. Even an official press briefing would not have done justice. Whoever is responsible for leaking such confidential information has violated the moral principle of Cabinet meetings thereby ridiculing the oath of secrecy taken at Raj Bhavan during inception.”
“I appreciate the efforts taken by my fellow office bearer for leaking half-baked news of how I was cornered by press on the issue of Maoist insurgents and law and order. These and many such matters were explicitly published in newspapers and I must say I was amused by their proficiency. The person in question should have been better off becoming a journalist instead of a minister as the state doesn’t seem to benefit from his political expertise and it saddens me immensely,” Patil added.
Justifying and defending his home department, Patil stated “The severity of Maoists nuisance in the year 2010 has lessened in comparison to 2009 due to decisions taken by the government and exemplary courage shown by our police officers in spite of risk to their life. If compared with police force from other states, Maharashtra Police have put up a brave front. But at times our strategy doesn’t work, plans don’t materialize and police officers are sacrificed. This is a type of war. Hence it becomes necessary to boost the morale of our police and not break them psychologically. The region in question poses geographical obtrusions and is sparse. The Maoist insurgents take cover in the jungles. are trying to spread fear and instigate the villagers against the government.”
