Mah oppn demand resignation of CM, Deputy CM

Mumbai,July 12 (UNI) Opposition Shiv Sena-BJP in both houses of Maharashtra Legislature today blamed the state government for intelligence failure in wake of the Mumbai serial bomb blasts and sought the resignation of Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and his deputy R R Patil.

Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Ramdas Kadam created a stir when he claimed that he had passed on information about a fanatic muslim responsible for piling up RDX in the basement of a place of worship to Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil.

Making this claim while initiating a debate on the adjournment motion on the Mumbai serial bomb blasts, Mr Kadam said had Mr Patil acted on the information passed by him, the mayhem of seven powerful bombs exploding in first class coaches of western railway suburban trains could have been avoided.

''But, Mr Patil chose not to act for the fear of hurting Muslims despite the fact that I had passed on name,address and other details of the person'', Mr Kadam charged.

He demanded the resignation of Mr Patil and Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh asking them to morally accept the blame for yesterday's blasts. Linking the blasts with the Bhiwandi violence earlier this week, Mr Kadam said anti-national elements have been emboldened with the government's decision to stay the construction of a police station despite the locals' claim being rejected by the courts and the government earlier.

BJP leader Gopinath Munde blamed the inefficiency and non-coordination between the state and the central governments. He demanded a judicial inquiry into the case and said the probe should cover the role of both the governments in intelligence gathering and whether they had effectively worked on the inputs received.

He demanded a special court for trial in the case and said that the trial should be completed in six months. ''If the government fails on this count, we will throw it out of power'', he said and alleged the hand of Pakistan's ISI in the blasts. ''RDX and timer was used'', he added.

Since 1990,110 bomb blasts were witnessed in the state and over 1000 people had died, he said and added that the disaster management had completely failed. He too demanded the resignation of Mr Patil and Mr Deshmukh for the government's failure in intelligence gathering.

MORE UNI MR ADG RL PM1730