We are with ST employees, not their leadership: Sharad Pawar

The strike by MSRTC employees took an ugly turn on Friday after over 100 protesting staffers stormed Silver Oak the residence of NCP chief Sharad Pawar in south Mumbai shouted slogans and flung stones and footwear The incident happened a day after the Bombay HC asked the striking workers to resume duty by April 22 Political leaders wondered what had cooked overnight in the employeesrsquo camp that celebrated the courtrsquos directives on ThursdayStriking MSRTC employees outside Azad Maidan on Friday PicsBipin KokatePawar advised his party workers to stand in support of the MSRTC employees but not with the leadership that has misguided the protesters Urging his partymen to keep calm Pawar said ldquoWe are with the employees but not with the faulty leadership which we must oppose We have to oppose if someone is taking the employees on the wrong path You have shown that we are together in the time of crisisrdquo Pawar told a gathering after the police detained the hooligans including men and womenCM condemns attackChief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said he has asked the police to find out those behind the violence ldquoThere has been no precedent to such incident No leaders or their families have been attacked in the pastrdquo he said cautioning those who wish to exploit the employeesrsquo distress for their own gainsSharad Pawar his daughter and NCP MP Supriya Sule appealing to protesters to keep calmldquoThose who instigated violence and provoked employees must face the law I have instructed the home minister in this regardrdquo added the CM appealing to the MVA supporters to not retaliate or act in a manner that will disturb law and order in the state ldquoThe government has been with and shall remain with the ST employees and their familiesrdquo he assured in a statementDaughter faces mobPawarrsquos MP daughter Supriya Sule rushed to Silver Oak to brave the angry protesters who stormed the premises around 330 pm She said she was prepared to discuss the issue peacefullyThe angry protesters blamed Pawar the key architect of MVA for not doing enough for them ldquoSome 120 employees of MSRTC have died by suicide since the strike began These are not suicides but murders caused by the statersquos policy Sharad Pawar has not done anything to resolve the issuerdquo a protester told reportersldquoWe respect yesterdayrsquos Thursdayrsquos decision of the Bombay High Court but we were discussing the issues with the state government which has been elected by the people This government did nothing for us The Chanakya of this government Sharad Pawar is also responsible for our lossesrdquo said another protesting workerCops outside Yellow Gate police station where the arrested protesters were takenThe violent agitation echoed elsewhere in the state NCP workers took to the streets blocked highways to condemn the act They demanded that the ST employeesrsquo leader and lawyer Gunaratna Sadavarte be arrested for planning and provoking the attackMVA leaders and ministers visited Pawarrsquos residence to protest the attacklike agitation They said such a violent protest at the politicianrsquos residence had never happened in the past and suspected provocation by the people who want to create a law and order situation in the state JtCP to probeHome minister Dilip Walse Patil assured that the guilty including the lsquoexternal forcesrsquo would be brought to book and punished He deputed Joint Commissioner of Police Law and Order Vishwas Nagre Patil to probe the incidentEnvironment minister Aaditya Thackeray said the attack was triggered by a political motive ldquoNo such incident has happened in the state till daterdquo he said His father and CM Uddhav Thackeray spoke with Pawar over the phonePawarrsquos grandnephew and MLA Rohit Pawar blamed the attack on the BJP ldquoSadavarte spoke like a BJPs spokesperson in front of the employeesrdquo he said Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut suspected an lsquounidentified forcersquo behind the attack that was aimed at creating trouble for the MVA government Sadavarte who has been fighting the court battle on behalf of the protesters and his wife were arrested late at night NCP leader and housing minister Jitendra Ahwad said that the NCP workers would not respond to the attackers but condemned the attack on their leadersrsquo residence ldquoThe police will find out whether the protesters were the ST employees their families or the outsiders who were brought specifically to throw stones and footwearrdquo he addedSecurity up at Parab homesTransport minister Anil Parabrsquos residences were secured following the attack on Pawarrsquos Silver Oak ldquoThe inquiry will reveal who is behind the attackrdquo he said adding that the people who provoked the employees will face the lawParab reiterated that as per the HCrsquos directive the government will not take action against the employees who resume duty on or before April 22 He said the employees will have to choose between the HC and their leader Sadavarte as far as ending the strike was concernedSadavarte told the media that it was not an attack but an emotional outburst of the agitating employees including the widows who lost their ST employee husbands to suicides and COVID19Completely wrong FadnavisOpposition leader Devendra Fadnavis condemned the incident ldquoThe incident happened at senior leader Sharad Pawar sahebrsquos residence is completely wrong Whoever is the leader or the partyhellip the agitation at their residence cannot be endorsed I strongly condemn the incidentrdquo he tweeted and expected that the grievances and demands should be placed on an appropriate platform and heardas wellUnion minister Narayan Rane blamed the protest on the governmentrsquos highhandedness in dealing with the strike ldquoWe have seen what happens when employees get upset The employees were threatened yesterday Thursday for resuming the dutyrdquo he saidlsquoNo clue about triggerrsquoDespite announcements on speakers to vacate Azad Maidan at 6 pm a majority of the protesting MSRTC employees stayed put at the venue prompting the police to beef up security thereOfficials said 107 protesters including 23 women were arrested for the agitation outside Pawarrsquos residence Late in the evening they were taken for medical tests to St Georgersquos Hospital They would be produced before the court on SaturdayAsked about the trigger for the aggression at Pawarrsquos home those at Azad Maidan said they had no clue ldquoWe have no idea about what happened there but we will follow what our leaders sayrdquo an employee from Akola saidThe protesters said trade unions under Pawarrsquos leadership had been one of the key unions working for employeesrsquo welfare for many years Asked why they protested after rejoicing after the HC order the employees had no satisfactory answersThere is no clarity on who instigated the employees and what made them reach Pawarrsquos house While a few said it looks like a part of the larger conspiracy a few said it was an impulsive decision because of the suicides of 120 employees