Mahajan must resign gracefully says Adik

As allegations fly thick and fast against Bharatiya Janata Party's Federal Information Technology and Communications Minister Pramod Mahajan, political parties in his home state Maharashtra feel he should resign gracefully so that an inquiry is conducted in an impartial manner.

"How can the police conduct a probe into the allegations against Mahajan when he is still a minister," asks Govindrao Adik, president, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee.

Though the state has no separate policy to take a stand on the serious allegations made by Madhu Sharma, wife of absconding Indian Police Service (IPS) officer on the alleged involvement of Mahajan in the murder of journalist Shivani Bhatnagar, Adik says, "The All India Congress Committee has taken cognisance of the issue and therefore, we do not want to debate on it.

"However, though the Congress party has not demanded the minister's resignation, we expect him, in the name of decency, to quit his post in the cabinet."

Congressmen are beginning to point an accusing finger at the BJP "which has always professed itself as a party with high morals. Unless he resigns, a thorough investigation cannot be done. It will also give him an opportunity to come out clean," says Adik.

He also criticised Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani for going out of his way to ensure the party's backing for Mahajan.

"In the history of the Congress party, no one accused of such serious allegations has been protected in this manner. This time the allegations have not been made by the Congress but by the persons concerned."

The Shiv Sena, an ally of the BJP in the central government and in the state where the two form a combined opposition, has remained silent on the issue.

Senior Sena leader and Rajya Sabha member, Sanjay Nirupam, said, "This is the first and the last time I don't want to make comments on this case."

The BJP in Maharashtra has stuck to a stand of giving full backing to Mahajan, who hails from the Beed district of this state, on the grounds that he has been framed by his opponents.

"The cabinet and the entire BJP is backing him and will not tolerate any conspiracy to tarnish the image of the party," says Pandurang Phundkar, state BJP chief.

"All this is happening because the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has been running smoothly," he adds.

However, Samajwadi Party chief Abu Asim Azmi thinks the BJP is being hammered with all kinds of scams and it is high time the NDA government resigned.

"My party is ready to join hands with the Congress party to fight elections, whether national or in Gujarat, but the latter wants to contest on its own, thus dividing secular votes."

Meanwhile, Phundkar denied any power struggle within the party and that some groups were jealous of Mahajan's rise to the status of a federal minister.

However, some reports indicate that both Mahajan and Federal Minister of Petroleum Ram Naik had expressed their strong opposition to disinvestment on a massive scale and that is why both ministers, who also seemed to have a growing clout in the party, have been targeted to keep them in place.