Maha govt has failed on all fronts, says Oppn

A delegation of senior BJP leaders, which met Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan here, also demanded the resignation of Home Minister R R Patil on moral ground.

"We also sought the suspension of city commissioner Arup Patnaik," Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council Vinod Tawde told reporters after meeting the Chief Minister.

Earlier, Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut said the situation was a fit case for dismissal of the Congress-NCP government in the state.

"I am sure President Pranab Mukherjee must be watching the situation," he said, adding, the Home Department is supposed to be the "backbone of the government, but it has weakened".

MNS chief Raj Thackeray claimed the law and order situation in Maharashtra was "in tatters" and Patil has failed on all fronts.

"You prevent me from speaking but you allow Raza Academy to hold such an event," Raj said.

Meanwhile, the Raza Academy today apologised for the violence, but dismissed charges that the culprits were its members.

"We apologise to media and police," a functionary of the academy, Maulana Moinuddin Ashraf, said.

Two persons were killed and many injured when a protest in Mumbai's Azad Maidan against Assam riots turned violent yesterday with demonstrators torching vehicles and pelting stones, prompting the police to fire in air to disperse them.