NEW DELHI, July 14: Driven into a corner for the last four days, the alliance government of Chief Minister Manohar Joshi will be put through an acid test tomorrow when Union Home Minister Indrajit Gupta arrives in Mumbai to study the law and order situation that has seen a consistent decline since Friday's killing of 11 dalits.Gupta is rushing to Mumbai following Prime Minister I K Gujral's instructions to put the situation in Maharashtra under the lens and report to him on whether it necessitated Central intervention. Gupta will be the Prime Minister's second emissary to the metropolis since Friday, the first one being Ram Vilas Paswan who visited the families of the dalits who were killed in police firing at Ramabai Nagar.Gujral's move itself followed a demand by a high-level delegation of the Congress to dismiss the Joshi Government on grounds of breakdown of law and order in the state. That the Congress meant business was evident in the fact that party president Sitaram Kesri himself led the delegation that consisted, among others, of Sharad Pawar and Meira Kumar. On Sunday, Kesri had air-dashed Meira Kumar to Mumbai to report to him on the vandalisation of Chhagan Bhujbal's house by Shiv Sainiks.The Prime Minister agreed with the Congress president that the attacks on the houses of the leaders of the opposition ``were unacceptable'' and pointed out that he was sending Gupta to make an on-the-spot assessment.Gujral also assured the Congress delegation that the interests of the dalits would be safeguarded. He said the State Government had been asked by the Centre to make all efforts to maintain law and order.Gupta is expected to reiterate this when he visits Mumbai tomorrow. He will fly to Mumbai, taking along a small group of Home Ministry officials, shortly after attending a parliamentary consultative committee meeting.Gupta is expected to take a hard look at the situation in the state by visiting Ramabai Nagar, the residences of Bhujbal and Madhukarrao Pichad and meet Governor P C Alexander. Chief Secretary Dinesh Afzalpukar, DGP A S Samra, Mumbai CP Subhash Malhotra have been asked to be available at Raj Bhavan, it was learnt. He may also meet the Chief Minister before returning to the capital in the evening.With the chorus for the sacking of the government gaining momentum with each passing day, and Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray continuing to make angry noises (see story below), Gupta's report could well decide the fate of the government specially because Paswan and Meira Kumar have each demanded dismissal after their visits.
