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Maharashtra CM wants home min replaced: Sena insiders say
Thackeray to discuss matter with Pawar; CM unhappy with home dept’s handling of Vaze, Hiran and Sushant cases
Even as the Maharashtra government has constituted a single-member committee to probe the allegations of corruption against Anil Deshmukh levelled by former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh, chief minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray is keen on replacing the home minister.
Shiv Sena insiders said that Thackeray wants Deshmukh to be moved to another department, as he is facing a probe in his functioning as home minister. If not immediately, Deshmukh can be shifted out of the home department as a part of a minor reshuffle of the state cabinet, a senior Sena leader said. However, Thackeray and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar are yet to discuss the matter, the leader added.
The Sena leader, who is a close aide of the CM, said the latter is not happy with the handling of the home portfolio by Deshmukh, which Thackeray had made clear to Pawar in one of their earlier meetings.
“Uddhavji had conveyed his desire for change at the helm of the home department. There could be a reshuffle. CM is unhappy with the handling of the [Sachin] Vaze episode. According to CM, the minister did not have a firm grip on the department. We have seen how the leader of Opposition [Devendra Fadnavis] had more information [about the department] than the minister,” said the Sena leader, adding that Thackeray and Pawar would discuss these issues in the coming days.
The leader said that this was not the first occasion where the minister had lacked better handling. Thackeray was unhappy with the way actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death probe was handled, as the Opposition had attacked the Shiv Sena and a key cabinet minister in the case.
The probe against Deshmukh will be conducted by a panel headed by retired Bombay high court judge Kailas Uttamchand Chandiwal. He has been given six months to submit his report to the state government. The panel has been tasked to examine if Singh submitted proofs to establish that Deshmukh or any staffer from his office committed any offence/misconduct as alleged in the former top cop’s letter and whether specific allegations raised by Singh, citing messages from assistant commissioner of police Sanjay Patil and former assistant inspector Vaze, had any truth and merited investigation by the state anti-corruption bureau or any other agency. The panel can also offer its recommendations that it deems fit.
The high-level probe committee, however, has not been constituted under the Commission of Inquiry Act, and thus, the government is not required to make public the report or the actions taken based on its findings.
Meanwhile, with back-to-back controversies, including the resignation of Sena minister Sanjay Rathod and the Vaze link to the Antilia and Mansukh Hiran death case has dented the image of the party. With less than a year for the prestigious Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation election, Sena’s dented image could become the fodder for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which is aiming to wrest control of the civic body from it.
However, Shiv Sena chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut said that the issue has not spoilt the image of the party.
“The Opposition has alleged many things, but it is their job to do so. In all this, it is the Opposition’s image and credibility that is hurt. The charges and allegations thrown at Shiv Sena or the government have not landed. Therefore, Shiv Sena’s image has not been hurt anywhere. The Vaze issue is now with National Investigation Agency (NIA), let them probe it. The government has nothing to do with it,”
When asked if the Hiran case and Singh’s allegations could have been handled better by the Sena-led government, Raut said, “The government handled the issue in the way it wanted to. Had it been any other government, it could not have handled it in another manner.”
A senior Sena functionary said that the learning was to not depend more on administration.
“In the entire episode, what comes as learning is that one shouldn’t trust more than it is required. This is applicable from IAS officers to IPS to APIs,” he said.
NCP minister and party spokesperson Nawab Malik was unreachable for a comment.
