Maharashtra BJP chief says one more MVA minister will resign in 8 days

Speaking in Pune on the occasion of the BJP’s 41st foundation day, Patil said that there are at least seven ministers with criminal records in the MVA government

With its morale boosted after two Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) ministers resigned in the last 35 days, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided to up the ante against the government. Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil said that one more minister from the state government will resign in the next eight days.

Chandrakant Patil. (HT Archive)

Speaking in Pune on the occasion of the BJP’s 41st foundation day, Patil said that there are at least seven ministers with criminal records in the MVA government. He said that the ministers’ offences are very serious in nature and claimed that the state government will fall on its own.

“There are 6-7 ministers in the state cabinet who are facing serious criminal charges. One of the ministers is facing imprisonment for beating up a policeman, while another has recently revealed his relationship outside wedlock. One of the ministers’ son-in-law is in jail in connection with a drug case, while another is facing charges of beating a party worker. We are not interested in taking the resignation of any minister, but it is going to happen naturally. Like in cricket, the first few wickets bat for a longer time, but the tail-enders fall quickly. Similarly, the next resignations from MVA ministers will come at shorter intervals,” he said.

Patil said that while the list of wrongdoings of some ministers from the MVA government has already been in the public domain, a few more names will be added to it in the next few days. “The MVA government will collapse under its own deeds. There is no need to put in special efforts to topple it. The BJP will fight the elections on its own and form the government without joining hands with any other party,” Patil said.

On Monday, leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis said that a few more names will come to light for their involvement in the “extortion” case during the CBI investigation. “There are few more names that will be exposed in the course of investigation of the case. The alleged involvement of the home minister is just the tip of the iceberg. I believe many heavyweights from the ruling parties are involved in the entire case of ‘extortion’,” he said.

According to the BJP leaders, the state unit has decided to go become more aggressive against the MVA government over issues such as corruption and lockdown.