Why is Maha CM silent? Fadnavis on allegations against Deshmukh

PTI, Apr 5, 2021, 5:07 PM IST

Mumbai: BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis questioned the silence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray over the issue of corruption allegations against NCP leader Anil Deshmukh, who resigned from the post of state home minister on Monday.

State BJP chief Chandrakant Patil said he is happy that Deshmukh has quit, adding there will be many ”shocking revelations” in the CBI probe.

The Bombay High Court on Monday ordered a CBI probe into the allegations of extortion against Deshmukh by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh.

Deshmukh subsequently submitted his resignation letter to Chief Minister Thackeray in which he said he does not have the moral right to continue in office after the court order.

On March 25, Singh filed criminal public interest litigation seeking a CBI probe against Deshmukh who, he claimed, asked police officers, including arrested cop Sachin Waze, to collect Rs 100 crore from bars and restaurants.

Fadnavis told reporters here that Deshmukh’s resignation was expected and he had no other option.

He should have remembered his morals on the very first day when the allegations were levelled, the BJP leader said.

”Why is the chief minister mum? His silence is unsettling,” Fadnavis said.

The Thackeray-led Shiv Sena joined hands with the NCP and Congress in 2019 to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

Fadnavis said he was satisfied that the court had taken cognisance of the allegations he made with proof.

He said the MVA government doesn’t have the mandate of the people.

”The government has been formed by betraying the people’s mandate. This is an auto-rickshaw government with leaders of all the three parties considering the government as their own fiefdom. Each minister considers himself as chief minister. People are now realising what I was saying is true,” Fadnavis claimed.

Meanwhile, Chandrakant Patil told reporters in Pune that those who make mistakes should be punished or else democracy won’t be strengthened.

”Many skeletons will tumble out after the 15-day CBI preliminary probe. The truth will come out regarding Deshmukh’s demand to Waze to collect Rs 100 crore. The CBI will bring out all thethings in its own style,” said Patil.

The BJP leader said he was satisfied that NCP chief Sharad Pawar took the decision sensitively about Deshmukh’s resignation after the HC asked the CBI to conduct a probe into the matter.

Patil said 15 days back he had said there will be two resignations.

”Now, one resignation has come and another will follow,” he claimed without naming anyone.

Asked whether there will be any affect on the MVA government, he said, ”As per the Constitution, the ‘Maha Vasooli Aghadi’ has majority and until the majority reduces, there is no reason to believe the government will fall.” Patil said people are already facing hardships due to COVID-19 and in such a situation, if such things are happening, people will lose faith in politics.

Before Deshmukh resigned, Fadnavis also said truth will come out in the preliminary inquiry.

”He should resign on moral grounds, face the probe and come back to the ministry if he is found to be innocent,” the leader of opposition in the state Assembly said.

Fadnavis said the Thackeray government had decided not to allow the CBI to take up cases in Maharashtra, but the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court had the power to direct such investigations.

The CBI probe will reveal how an extortion racket was carried out with blessings of the government and ministers, he said, adding that all efforts were made to show IPS officers like Singh and Rashmi Shukla, a former SID chief at the centre of a phone-tapping controversy, in bad light.