MUMBAI, July 23: Eager to prove an Opposition conspiracy in the desecration of the Ambedkar statue at Ghatkopar, the Sena-BJP government today snatched a straw in the wind: an affidavit by an alleged Congress activist of Dhule district accusing Chhagan Bhujbal of planning the whole operation.

The affidavit by Rajendra Agarwal, alias Gupta of Shahada in Dhule, the basis of a lead article in the Sena mouthpiece Saamna on Wednesday, set off an explosion in both the Houses where both Chief Minister Manohar Joshi and the Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde took cognisance of the report.

Joshi said, Agarwal, a Congress activist close to Bhujbal had submitted his hand written affidavit to police commissioner Subhash Malhotra.

Joshi read out parts of the affidavit detailing how Bhujbal was alleged to have planned the desecration and declared amidst ruling party demands for Bhujbal's arrest: ``Additional commissioner of police (crime) R S Sharma has been asked to investigate into the matter. If the contents of the affidavit are found to be true, the government will not hesitate to arrest Bhujbal.'' He also announced that the affidavit would be submitted to the Justice Gundewar commission of inquiry, set up to probe into desecration and subsequent police firing.

In the ten-page affidavit, Agarwal, has stated that Bhujbal told him ``to garland Dr Ambedkar's statue at Ramabai Nagar on July 9 midnight'' but he refused to be a part of it.

Agarwal, according to Joshi, had stated in his affidavit that, he arrived in Mumbai on July 8 and met Bhujbal in his official residence. ``Bhujbal asked me to meet him in a morcha where again he asked me to meet him at his bungalow in the evening,'' Agarwal stated in the affidavit.

``When I went to his residence, Bhujbal asked other workers to go outside and closeted with me in his inner chamber to reveal his plan. He said this government could not be threatened unless riots engulfed Maharashtra and therefore, riots must take place at various places.

``Bhujbal asked me when I was returning to Shahada, to which I replied within 2-3 days. Then he asked me to leave on July 9 after midnight, offered me a vehicle, driver and his man and told me to garland with chappals the statue at Ghatkopar on way to Shahada.

``I was scared and also felt disgust over the plan and returned to Shahada without performing the act. When I read about the desecration at Ramabai Nagar I was shocked and decided to make this affidavit, which i do on my volition and without any threat or coercion,'' Agarwal said.

The scene in the Council was a little different as deputy chairperson N S Pharande disallowed the point of propriety raised by Bhujbal who wanted to raise the affidavit issue. The House witnessed two adjournments and the pandemonium continued through the day.

Bhujbal called the affidavit bogus and insisted he had nothing to do with the desecration. Later, at a press conference, he punched holes in Agarwal's version and threatened to sue Thackeray for carrying a campaign of calumny in his paper Saamna.

Subsequently, the opposition members climbed on the chairperson's podium and started shouting slogans asking for the arrest of Bal Thackeray.

Not to be outdone, the treasury benches shouted slogans demanding Bhujbal's arrest.

Amid the sloganeering, Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde announced that the government had asked the State Criminal Investigation Department to conduct an inquiry into the whole affair. ``Anybody found guilty will not be spared,'' he said.

Several official bills were rushed through even as the opposition continued sloganeering. Business was adjourned sine die in both Houses even as several questions in the affair remained unanswered.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.