Mumbai, February 4: In a sharp rebuttal to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s provocative statement on police encounters, Maharashtra Congress leader Hussain Dalwai equated organizations relying on violence to terrorism, regardless of their religious affiliation.
Yogi Adityanath had recently declared that if criminals have the freedom to fire at police, then officers are equipped with pistols for a reason—trained to respond in kind. ‘If police don’t shoot, should they just take the bullets?’ he questioned, defending the use of lethal force against lawbreakers.
Dalwai fired back, arguing that such rhetoric amounts to taking the law into one’s own hands. ‘Pistols are given to police to intimidate criminals, not to kill them outright,’ he asserted. ‘Killing people indiscriminately is wrong. These are violent ideologues who believe in brute force.’
He went further, labeling any group—be it Hindu or Muslim—that trusts in violence as terrorist organizations. ‘Violence doesn’t discriminate by faith; it’s terrorism plain and simple,’ Dalwai emphasized.
Shifting gears to regional politics, Dalwai dismissed the prospects of a unified NCP under Sharad Pawar. ‘Even if they merge, they’ll just become BJP’s B-team, offering unconditional support,’ he predicted. ‘The faction aligned with Ajit Pawar is already in BJP’s pocket. Sharad Pawar will stick to his principles and stay independent, never joining the BJP bandwagon.’
On West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s stance against the central government’s SIR proposal, Dalwai accused the BJP of fixating on Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala. ‘They’re desperate to penetrate these states with their one-party, one-religion, one-culture agenda,’ he said. ‘Encircling Mamata is wrong; BJP won’t form governments there in upcoming elections.’
Dalwai’s comments underscore deepening political fault lines ahead of key electoral battles, where secular credentials and law enforcement tactics remain hot-button issues.