Centre should’ve consulted us on Koregaon Bhima probe: Uddhav

Mumbai, February 5

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday criticised the Centre’s decision to transfer probe into the 2018 Koregaon Bhima violence case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) without taking the state government into confidence.

In the third and concluding part of his interview to Shiv Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, Thackeray also accused the BJP of “betraying” him saying his ‘Hindutva’ ideology was different from that the BJP as he did not want an unstable ‘Hindu rashtra’ where governments are toppled and there is communal tension.

To a question, he said the (Supreme Court’s) decision on Ram temple was according to the Constitution.

He also said the future of his Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, comprising the Sena, NCP and Congress, was “good”.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar was the MVA government’s “guide” and not remote controlling it, he said, adding that he would visit Delhi soon to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Referring to the Koregaon Bhima violence case, Thackeray said the Centre had all the right to step into the probe, but it should have taken the state government into confidence before handing over the investigation to NIA.

“I was surprised by the Centre’s decision. Doesn’t the Centre trust the state’s investigating agencies? Due to such incidents, there is a problem in Centre-state relations,” he said while speaking to Saamana’s executive editor Sanjay Raut.

Thackeray said the probe in the case was handed over to NIA when Pawar was demanding an inquiry into it by a Special Investigation Team (SIT).

“The Centre must have felt what is going on in our minds. It could have asked us what we were planning to do. Sharad Pawar expressed his views on the probe. Did we take any decision? The Centre should have sought information from us. It should have asked Pawar why he felt the case should be probed again,” he said.

The CM said he had spoken to Pawar and the latter wanted a “free and fair” probe.

Violence had broken out near Koregaon-Bhima war memorial in Pune district on January 1, 2018.

The case was earlier being probed by the Pune police, which claimed that provocative speeches at Elgar Parishad conclave in Pune on December 31, 2017, led to the violence, and Maoists were behind the conclave. PTI