NEWS
ANALYSIS
SPECIALS
INTERVIEW
CAMPAIGN TRAIL
ISSUES
GALLERY
MANIFESTOS
OVERHEARD
INDIA SPEAKS!
DISCUSSION GROUP
CHAT
PREVIOUS RESULTS
SCHEDULE

Ribeiro calls for ending Thackeray's 'one-man rule'

Former Punjab police director general and Indian ambassador to Romania J F Ribeiro has called for a mass movement to resist the ''one-man rule'' of Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray to pave the way for good governance and to ensure that things move according to the law in Maharashtra.

Ribeiro, who was in the capital last night in connection with a book release function, said Thackeray was behaving like a ''dictator of Maharashtra''.

The ''extra-constitutional authority'' being wielded by him had resulted in an atmosphere of insecurity among the intellectuals and the common man in the state, he said. While complimenting the ''brave journalists'' and non-governmental organisations like AGNI who had exposed the misdeeds of the Shiv Sena-BJP government, the former super cop remarked, ''We have to have get together and protest.''

Disclosing how his wife felt ''threatened'' whenever he criticised Thackeray, he alleged that the Shiv Sena chief was disseminating misinformation on issues of public importance through his ''personal newspaper -- Saamna.''

UNI

Tell us what you think of this interview