Shekhawat takes on Patil

NEW DELHI: Tuesday was a day Home Minister Shivraj Patil would like to forget.

Coming under sharp criticism across the political spectrum in Parliament over the killing of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MP Sunil Mahto, Patil also had a face-off with the chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat for his unsatisfactory reply on the issue.

Shekhawat, who is also the Vice president, had decided to intervene on the security issue of Mahto and decided to intervene. The Chair had wanted to know whether Mahto’s security was enough and whether as Home Minister, Patil was satisfied with the security provided to Mahto when his threat perception was visibily high.

The Home Minister said: “When he (Mahto) was asked whether the security given to him was adequate, he said it was adequate.” This reply did not seem to satisfy the Chair, who repeatedly asked Patil whether as Home Minister he was satisfied with the security provided to Mahto. But Patil did not give a direct reply.

A suo-motu statement made by Patil on the issue turned into a heated debate as the MPs were enraged for the “casual reply laced with official statistics without going into the substance of the incident.” They sought various “clarifications” from the minister as permitted under the Rajya Sabha rules inclulding whether the security provided to the slain MP was adequate, what steps were being taken to counter naxal menace and why the minister did not consider making an on the spot assessment himself, particularly when a public representative who had challenged naxalites, was killed. CPI(M) member Brinda Karat also asked whether the incident was a result of an intelligence failure.

Observing that Mahto was provided with ‘Y’ category security with two personal security officers and five commandos, Patil said the district authorities did not have information about JMM leader’s programme near Jamshedpur. He said this is a different kind of conspiracy and that the prime concern of intelligence agencies was security of vital installations.

Agreeing with members on strengthening the intelligence machinery, he said the Centre had asked states to strengthen special branches responsible for collecting intelligence. He said the Central intelligence only deals with a general direction of possible extremist attacks. The Centre has asked affected states to reach an agreement among themselves to ensure better coordination to tackle the situation, he said. Patil said the issue about offences with ramifications in other parts of the country was pending before the Supreme Court which has asked the Soli Sorabjee Committee to look into it. “We have to crytalise our views on federal crimes,” he said.

Dissatisfied with the statement and reply, Opposition BJP members staged a walkout in the middle of Home Minister’s reply to a 90-minute discussion on the killing of the JMM leader. The BJP even accused Patil of dealing with the issue in a “casual manner”. BJP leader Yashwant Sinha alleged that the Home Minister was trying to soft pedal naxal violence by hiding behind figures. Congress leader Digvijay Singh also sought to know why he had not visited the scene.

Earlier, participating in the discussion, NDA members from the state demanded imposition of President’s rule in Jharkhand alleging failure on part of the state government to provide security to the MP. The Home Minister said families of two policemen killed in the attack would get a monetary benefit of Rs 10 lakh each.

The banned CPI-Maoist has claimed responsibility for gunning down Mahto, saying he was shot dead to avenge the killing of 11 cadres at Lango a few years ago. Posters put up by CPI-Maoist at villages in Hadia and Lango areas, claimed Mahto had instigated villagers to kill the Maoists and he was eliminated.

With inputs from Agencies