Ketkar attack: NCP removes Methe from party post

The NCP on Saturday removed its Maharashtra unit vice-president Vinayak Methe from the party post in connection with the attack on the house of Loksatta editor Kumar Ketkar. Activists of the Shiv Sangram, a radical pro-Marathi organisation led by Methe, were involved in the attack, in protest against an editorial that mocked the state Government plans to install a statue of Shivaji in the Arabian Sea off Mumbai.

The decision to remove Methe from the party post was taken at a meeting of top party leaders here. NCP state president Arun Gujarathi said the party had issued a showcause notice to Methe on June 6, but he had failed to reply within the stipulated seven days. He said on receiving Methe’s reply, the matter would be referred to the party’s disciplinary committee headed by Madhukar Pichad, which would take a decision on further action to be taken against him. According to party sources, the decision to remove Methe was initiated by the central leadership and the orders came from national general secretary D P Tripathi.

On June 5, some 70-80 men belonging to the Shiv Sangram hurled stones, broke window panes, tarred doors and windows and tried to break into Ketkar’s house in the Kopri area of Thane. They also burnt copies of Loksatta on the road outside the house.