Thane legislator to go on hunger strike again

THANE - Independent legislator from Maharashtra’s Vasai town Vivek Pandit Tuesday threatened to launch another indefinite hunger strike Wednesday to press for de-linking of 18 villages from the local civic agency, an aide said.

Pandit with 89 other activists, who are at present in judicial custody for last Saturday’s blockade of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad national highway, will Wednesday go on the hunger strike - second since March - on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, said D. Dabre.

Pandit and his social organisation Shramjeevi Sanghatana have been demanding the de-linking of a total of 53 villages from the Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation (VVMC).

Following his hunger strike and a violent agitation by over 20,000 villagers early March, the state government agreed to de-link 35 villages while the fate of the remaining 18 was kept in balance.

In a related development, when Pandit’s arrest came up for attention in the Maharashtra legislative assembly Tuesday, Speaker Dilip Walse-Patil refused to interfere in the legal processes to enable him attend the legislature.

Walse-Patil, citing several precedents in the assembly, parliament and the British House of Commons, said the privilege of freedom from arrest was applicable only in civil cases and not criminal case.

Patil was booked and arrested last Saturday under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for the blockade of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad national highway.