NCP leader targets IPS officer Anjana Krishna; Supriya Sule lambasts him

Mumbai, Sep 5 (PTI) NCP leader Amol Mitkari on Friday targeted IPS officer Anjana Krishna over the way she is seen speaking to Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in a viral video, prompting MP Supriya Sule to slam him for "character assassination".

The video, where Ajit Pawar is heard rebuking Krishna over phone while she was taking action against illegal murrum soil excavation in Solapur district, went viral a day before. On Friday, the NCP chief clarified that he did not mean to interfere in the police's work.

Mitkari, a Member of the Legislative Council, alleged that Krishna who holds the post of deputy superintendent of police shot the video and asked her associates to make it viral.

"The Constitution tells us that men and women are equal. Why should women be supported if they are in the wrong? Women officers should also speak responsibility," he said in a video statement.

"If she says she does not recognise the state's deputy chief minister, her recruitment process must be scrutinised. I have written to the UPSC seeking a probe," Mitkari said.

Responding to his statement, NCP (SP) working president Supriya Sule said members of the ruling dispensation attacking the credentials of the IPS officer was a grave assault on the Constitution.

"When elected officials orchestrate character assassination, it undermines Rule of Law, Article 14 & 311. Such systematic targeting of a woman officer violates constitutional guarantees of gender equality also. All members of the Executive must be protected from political intimidation to uphold the 'Idea of India' our Constitution enshrines," she said in a post on X.

"We expect that appropriate action will be taken to preserve the dignity of public office and independence of the civil services," Sule further said, tagging Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. PTI MR KRK