NCP faces flak over Patil's arrest

The Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party came under attack following the arrest of its senior MP Padamsinh Patil by CBI in a double murder case and faced allegations of a cover up in the matter by up by the party's Home Minister in Maharashtra.

There were demands that Patil, elected from Osmanabad in Maharashtra in the recent elections, should resign from the Lok Sabha or he should be expelled from the party. Senior NCP leader and Union Minister Praful Patil reacted saying if the charges of murder are proved against him the party will "completely dissociate" from him.

While the Lok Sabha was informed of his arrest by Speaker Meira Kumar, the Maharashtra Assembly was rocked by the development with the Opposition Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party memebers demanding resignation of Home Minister Jayant Patil, who belongs to NCP.

Padamsinh Patil was arrested in connection with the murder of Congress leader Pawanraj Nimbalkar, his cousin and his driver three years ago and has been remanded in CBI custody. The agency grilled him further on Monday but allowed him to have home-cooked food.

BJP general secretary and former Maharashtra deputy CM Gopinath Munde said Patil should resign as MP or his party should expel him. He criticised NCP chief Pawar's reported comment that Patil is a respectable leader.