Guv should submit report to President about ‘corruption’ in Maharashtra: BJP

The BJP, while clarifying that they do not want to demand President’s rule, has announced that its leaders will meet the governor to press this demand on March 24

Drawing a parallel between the current situation in the state with the one in 1980 when President’s rule was imposed, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has demanded that Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari send a report to the President of India apprising him of the existing scenario in the state.

BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar. (HT File)

The BJP, while clarifying that they do not want to demand President’s rule, has announced that its leaders will meet the governor to press this demand on March 24.

Senior BJP leader and former finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar in a press conference held at the party’s Nariman Point office, also said on Monday that several government officials have been complaining about corruption in the administration and the pressure they have been going through to be part of the malpractices. Mungantiwar said that the officers should come forward and submit their complaints to the governor with proof.

“The allegations levelled by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh are very serious in nature, despite which the state government has been dismissing them. Singh, in his letter, said that he had apprised chief minister Uddhav Thackeray about the home minister’s illegal demand of police officers collecting money from bars, restaurants and hookah parlours. Neither the officers, who have been quoted in Singh’s letter have denied it, nor have the associations of bars and restaurants come forward to do so. The state government has been taking it very lightly, which could lead to serious repercussions on the morale of the police force,” Mungantiwar said.

He said that in such a situation, the governor should ask for a report from the chief minister and chief secretary of the state and send it to the President of India.

“A similar report was sent in September, 1980, when the Sharad Pawar-led Progressive Democratic Front government was in power in the state, to the president. Based on that, President’s rule was imposed in the state. I think similar turmoil exists today in the state and it should be reported to the President by the governor. We are not demanding President’s rule, but want a factual report to be sent to the President,” he said.

Mungantiwar also demanded a judicial probe in the allegations levelled by Singh against the home minister. “These are not political allegations, but are the facts brought to the light by an IPS officer of the rank of director general. They need to be taken seriously and an impartial probe by a high court judge is necessary,” he said.

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Monday issued a warning over possible attempts to impose President’s rule in Maharashtra. “If someone is attempting to impose President’s rule in Maharashtra by misusing central agencies, then I am warning them-you yourself will get burnt in that fire,” Raut, the Sena’s Rajya Sabha MP, said according to news agency ANI.

The ruling Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition, comprising the Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress, has come under pressure from the opposition BJP to sack home minister Anil Deshmukh from his post. Deshmukh, a leader of the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, has denied Singh’s allegations and threatened to file a defamation case against the senior police official. Singh wrote an unsigned letter to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray accusing Deshmukh of setting extortion targets of ₹100 crore for some police officials.

(With agency inputs)