Elagar Parishad, Koregaon Bhima separate: Maha Vikas Aghadi

Gearing up for a long-drawn battle with the Centre, the three ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi partners in Maharashtra came on same page saying that the Elgar Parishad and Koregaon Bhima are two separate incidents and interests of Dalit community would be protected.

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray was on the line of fire of allies NCP and Congress after the probe was handed over from Pune police to the NIA.

The Elgar Parishad was held in Shanivarwada in Pune city on 31 December, 2017, in which over 100 organisations participated while the Koregaon Bhima caste riots in Shirur tehsil took place on 1 January, 2018.

In the Elgar Parishad, people in their speeches had expressed anguish over the government while in Koregaon Bhima riots some Hindu organizations have been blamed by Congress and NCP and other parties.

Thackeray, the Shiv Sena president and MVA leader, broke his silence over the issue in Sindhudurg on Tuesday.

"The Elgar Parishad and Koregaon Bhima are separate topics," Thackeray said echoing what NCP supremo Sharad Pawar had been reiterating for last few days.

Thackeray said that the Koregaon Bhima case would not be given to the NIA. "I will not give it to the Centre and I want to make it clear that there would not be any injustice to my Dalit brothers," he said.

The Pune police probe had linked the Elgar Parishad to the Koregaon Bhima case - and human rights activists and civil right defenders have been arrested for an alleged plot to overthrow the BJP-led government and assassinate prime minister Narendra Modi.

The BJP had been referring to the accused as "Urban Naxals".

Meanwhile, Pawar said: "In Koregaon Bhima case, the Maharashtra police have mentioned a lot of things in its investigations. Locals have been cooperative with people coming there for many years. Sambhaji Bhide and Milind Ekbote created a different atmosphere in that place."

Pawar said that people have been in jail for over two years without bail.

While Ekbote was arrested and currently in bail, the then chief minister and now leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis had given clean chit to Bhide.

Meanwhile, revenue minister and Maharashtra Congress president Balasaheb Thorat too came down heavily on the Centre and the then BJP-led government.

"The manner in which the Central government handed over the Elgar Parishad case to the NIA raises concerns. From the manner in which the case was transferred it is clear that it is the attempt of the Central government to label people associated with progressive, Dalit and pro-Ambedkar movements as Naxals," said Thorat.

Speaking on the Elgar Parishad probe, Thorat said that this was the platform for intellectuals, liberals and poets. "It is wrong to take action against them only because they have spoken against the government. This is an attempt to the gag the progressive, and pro- Ambedkar voices. We are not supporting anyone who has behaved differently or acted with any other intentions. But, the timing in which the case has been handed over to the NIA makes it even more suspicious," he said.

Before this, Dabholkar, Pansare, Kalburgi were killed to stop their progressive thoughts, he said, adding that now the BJP government in the Centre is trying to label the intellectuals with pro-Ambedkar and Dalit thoughts as Naxals.