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After Pawar's remark on Anil Deshmukh, Fadnavis accuses him of diverting issue
Addressing the media at his house in Delhi, Pawar said on Monday that he is "absolutely clear that allegations made against Deshmukh are incorrect".
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is keeping the heat on Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, who has been accused of extortion by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh. Reacting to Nationalist COngress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar's comments that Deshmukh was in hospital in February when Singh claimed he met arrested cop Sachin Vaze, Fadnavis said on Monday that the Maharashtra home minister was seen taking press conference during the said period.
"Shri Sharad Pawar ji said, from 15th to 27th February HM Anil Deshmukh was in home quarantine. But actually along with security guards & media he was seen taking press conference!" he tweeted attaching an old video from Deshmukh's Twitter handle of his media interaction.
He also accused Pawar of diverting the issue. "It seems Sharad Pawar ji is not briefed properly on Parambir Singh letter. In this lefter only, the SMS evidence shows that the meeting date was mentioned as end of February. Now who is diverting issue?" Fadnavis said in a subsequent tweet.
Addressing the media at his house in Delhi, Pawar said on Monday that he is "absolutely clear that allegations made against Deshmukh are incorrect". “In view of fresh evidences that proves that Deshmukh was not in Nagpur it would not be fair to take Anil Deshmukh’s resignation,” he added.
The NCP - one of the constituents of the ruling Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) - has backed Deshmukh in the wake of allegations from Singh. After a meeting held at Pawar's residence in Delhi on Sunday, the party said Deshmukh won't resign.
The Maharashtra home minister also defended himself, saying he was in home quarantine in February and stepped out for the first time on February 28th.
"A few journalists were waiting for me at the hospital gate after I got discharged on 15th February. I was feeling low and weak so I sat on the chair there and responded to their questions. Then I went straight to my car and went home. I was in home quarantine from February 15th to 27th. I stepped out of my house for the first time on February 28th," he said.
The Shiv Sena, who leads the MVA, alleged that Param Bir Singh is a puppet of BJP government at the Centre. It also demanded probe into allegations against Singh by his subordinate officer.
"Param Bir Singh himself is a embroiled in corruption. On February 2, 2021, Anup Dange, an officer of Gamdevi Police station, wrote to Additional CS Home department complaining how Singh harassed Dange through Bharat Shah and Jitendra Navlani, who are connected to underworld," claimed Sena leader Vinayak Raut.
Dange had taken action against a pub but Param Bir Singh called him at 2am and asked him not to file a case, he further alleged.
The controversy around Deshmukh was triggered by a letter written by Singh to Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray in which he claimed that Deshmukh gave Vaze a monthly extortion target of ₹100 crore from various establishments in Mumbai. Since the letter surfaced on Saturday, the MVA has been defending Deshmukh.
Singh wrote the letter after his transfer from the post of Mumbai police commissioner to Maharashtra Home Guard. He has filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the transfer, calling it "arbitrary".
