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Holes in NCP defence as Sharad Pawar backs Anil Deshmukh
This is the second day in a row Pawar has defended Deshmukh, who has been named by Singh as having asked Vaze to collect ₹100 crore a month from restaurants, hotels, and other sources.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar continued to defend his party colleague and Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh on Monday, claiming that at the time Deshmukh met police officer Sachin Vaze in February according to former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh’s tell-all letter to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, the minister was at a Nagpur hospital being treated for Covid-19.
This is the second day in a row Pawar has defended Deshmukh, who has been named by Singh as having asked Vaze to collect ₹100 crore a month from restaurants, hotels, and other sources.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was quick to point out that Deshmukh addressed a press conference and also met with a Congress delegation on February 15 and February 8 respectively, and that video and photographic proof of these meetings were posted on Twitter by Deshmukh himself, putting a cloud over Pawar’s defence. This was also raised by some journalists at the NCP chief’s media briefing.
The minister subsequently said that he met with the delegation virtually, and that he addressed the conference after his discharge and before going into home quarantine. But the BJP also pointed out that the police officer’s letter mentions the timing of the meeting as February end.
The debate over Deshmukh’s whereabouts in February played out even as Singh followed up his letter with a plea in the Supreme Court, seeking an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the charges he has levelled against the minister. Singh was transferred on March 17 for his handling of the Antilia-Vaze-Hiran case, but said in his plea that the transfer was “arbitrary” and “illegal”.
Singh did not respond to repeated calls and messages.
Chief minister Thackeray has not responded to Singh’s letter so far, although his party, the Shiv Sena, has supported the home minister thus far.
In the press briefing, Pawar showed a certificate issued by Alexis multi-specialty Hospital, Nagpur, where Deshmukh was admitted for Covid-19 treatment between February 5 and 15. After being discharged, Deshmukh was home quarantined till February 27, following medical advice, he added.
“In view of fresh evidence... it would not be fair to take Anil Deshmukh’s resignation… The BJP’s demand for home minister’s resignation has no substance… I am absolutely clear that allegations made against Deshmukh are incorrect as he was in Nagpur,” the NCP chief said.
He also claimed the allegations against Deshmukh are aimed at diverting investigations in the Antilia bomb scare case, in which gelatin sticks were planted in a car parked near billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s residence in south Mumbai.
“There are some names which need to be investigated, which certain people may not like and thus, allegations were made against the home minister.”
The BJP alleged that Pawar is misleading the public.
“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!,” Fadnavis tweeted.
Responding to Fadnavis, home minister Deshmukh said in a video statement that he met the media before leaving the hospital. He added that he was “home quarantined till February 27. I stepped out of my home on February 28”.
BJP IT cell’s Amit Malviya also tweeted, “On 8th February, a delegation of the Congress party met Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, claiming that influential voices tweeted against anti-India voices, under pressure from the BJP. Where did the delegation meet Anil Deshmukh? In the hospital?”
Reacting on the claims, state Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said the meeting was held online. “I had two online meetings with @AnilDeshmukhNCP one on 8th Feb with a demand to inquire into the tweets of celebrities and another on 24th February to demand investigation into the Delkar suicide case because HM was infected with Covid and was hospitalized and then quarantined.”
Pawar earlier suggested a probe by a former senior police officer and suggested former Mumbai Police chief Julio Ribeiro who demurred saying he did not want to get involved in a probe at his age (91) nor wants to “touch such a murky situation”.
In his letter, Param Bir Singh accused Deshmukh of asking Vaze to “accumulate ₹100 crore per month” from bars, restaurants, and other establishments. Deshmukh has denied all the allegations. The National Investigation Agency has arrested Vaze in relation with that case.
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has named Vaze the prime accused in the murder of Mansukh Hiran, the Thane auto spare parts dealer who was linked to the vehicle in which the explosives were found. Hiran filed a complaint about the car being stolen on February 18. The explosives were found on February 25. Hiran was found dead in a creek on March 5. The ATS arrested two people, Vinayak Shinde and Naresh Gore, in connection with the crime on March 21.
Param Bir Singh, who was transferred from his post to Commandant General of Home Guards, Maharashtra, on March 17, made the charges in a letter on March 20, a few days after Deshmukh told reporters that the transfer was not routine but due to “serious and unpardonable mistakes” committed by police officers in the Antilia security scare investigation.
The Congress’s senior leaders and state ministers Ashok Chavan and Balasaheb Thorat met Thackeray to discuss the matter on Monday. After the meeting, Thorat said the CM will take a decision and that the home minister’s resignation will not happen just because the Opposition demanded it.
