‘Have left decision to CM; need to keep BJP sympathisers at bay’

Senior leaders met after the party’s central leadership intervened and asked for a report from the state unit

Clarifying its stand of not buckling under pressure from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Maharashtra Congress has decided to leave the decision over action related to the allegations against home minister Anil Deshmukh to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. While demanding regular meetings of the coordination committee of leaders from three parties, the Congress pressed the need to keep the BJP sympathisers in bureaucracy at “safe distance”.

(PTI)

The Congress ministers and senior leaders met on Tuesday evening to deliberate on the ongoing row after former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh levelled allegations that the police were to collect ₹100 crore in bribe from bars and restaurants. Senior leaders met after the party’s central leadership intervened and asked for a report from the state unit. Senior leaders, including Balasaheb Thorat, Prithviraj Chavan, Vijay Wadettiwar, Nitin Raut, Mumbai Congress leader Bhai Jagtap, Charan Singh Sapra and general secretary Sachin Sawant, met at Thorat’s official residence on Tuesday evening “The state unit leaders were of the opinion that there was no need for immediate resignation of the home minister until the authenticity in the allegations was scrutinised. Taking action against the minister will mean buckling under the pressure of the BJP’s ‘smear campaign’ against the government. However, the probe panel needs to be constituted at the earliest as part of the damage control. Congress leaders Ashok Chavan and Thorat have pressed for it during their meeting with the CM on Monday,” said a senior Congress leader. The leaders also expressed dismay over the secondary treatment meted out to them by other two partners in the government. One of the leaders in the meeting said the image of the coalition is damaged because of the wrongdoings of NCP leaders and it has been experienced even in the past when their governments were in power in the state. The leader said that the state leaders will send a report to the central leadership based on the deliberation. The leaders also expressed their concerns over the damaged posed by BJP sympathisers in the state government. One of the leaders said these officers need to be identified and kept distanced from. Another leader said the damage caused to the government was also because of the war between lobbies in IPS.