Minister of Union talks of 'insider-outsider' now

NEW DELHI: In a development that could aggravate troubles for the Centre, NCP leader and civil aviation minister Praful Patel on Sunday backed the demand for ���redrawing the balance��� between ���insiders and outsiders��� in Maharashtra. Mr Patel also went to the extent of warning that if there was no ���redrawing of balance��� between Maharashtrians and others, ���the people will themselves do it.���

In an interview to a private TV channel, Mr Patel rejected demands for removal of Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and immediate detention of Raj Thackeray under the National Security Act in the wake of attacks on north Indians. Mr Patel and his party chief Sharad Pawar had stayed away from the Cabinet meeting that discussed the attack on north Indians in Maharashtra.

The statement of Mr Patel is sure to compound troubles for the prime minister as it comes on a day when Lalu Prasad���s RJD threatened to ���recall��� its MPs from Parliament over the attacks. Although the RJD���s threat was aimed at denying the JD(U) the moral high ground, the civil aviation minister���s assertion is certain to put pressure on Lalu Prasad to get tough on the issue.

But the NCP appears determined to back the pro-Maharashtrian political platform. In the interview, Mr Patel saw nothing wrong in party leader Chhagan Bhujbal���s advocacy of ���sons of the soil��� slogan. He also asked non-Maharashtrians to respect the sentiments and culture of the state. The Raj Thackeray narrative was a favourite with the NCP was clear when Mr Patel blamed the lack of development in ���certain states��� for the migration.

Mr Patel downplayed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh���s letter to chief minister Deshmukh on the situation in the wake of attack on some north Indians.

���The Prime Minister, as the custodian of the entire nation, is well within his moral authority to speak and ask the Maharashtra government that such things should not happen,��� Mr Patel said.

Asked whether there was a need for redrawing of balance between Maharashtrians and non-Maharashtrians in the state, the civil aviation minister said: ���If you do not do that, sooner or later you will not need a Raj Thackeray to do that, the people themselves will do it.���