Trouble in Maha Vikas Aghadi over proposed ban on Sanatan Sanstha

Trouble in Maha Vikas Aghadi over proposed ban on Sanatan Sanstha
Sena MP Sanjay Raut opposes Congress leader Dalwai’s call saying ban wasn’t part of common minimum prog.

The first signs of difference have cropped up in the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). Congress Rajya Sabha MP Hussain Dalwai on Wednesday demanded a ban on Sanatan Sanstha for its alleged role in the murder of activist Narendra Dabholkar and Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Govind Pansare. But Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut opposed the move, saying the “ban was not part of the common minimum programme”.

“It was a mistake on our part that when the Congress-NCP government was in power in the state and at the Centre, we failed to ban reactionary organisations like Sanatan Sanstha. However, now that a progressive alliance has come to power in the state, it should once again recommend a ban on the Sanstha to the central government,” Dalwai told the media.

In response, Raut told a news channel that “problems don’t get solved by bans” and “ideology should be fought with ideology”.

Congress MP Hussain Dalwai (left) and Sanjay Raut

Congress MP Hussain Dalwai (left) and Sanjay Raut

Interestingly, the Congress government headed by Prithviraj Chavan had sent a proposal to the UPA government seeking a ban on the Sanstha in 2011. But two Congress home ministers, P Chidambaram and Sushilkumar Shinde, sat on the proposal.

After the arrest of Sanstha activist Vaibhav Raut from whose home the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) recovered a large cache of arms in August last year, the Congress and NCP clamoured for a ban on the group in the Assembly.

The Sena, which was part of the Fadnavis government, had opposed the demand. Raut had felicitated Sanjiv Punalekar, a lawyer for the Sanstha who was arrested by the CBI in May for his alleged role in Dabholkar’s murder.

Political analyst Prakash Akolkar said, “Instead of fighting over nonissues, MVA government should get cracking on governance, it should first announce distribution of portfolios among ministers.”
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