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'Maharashtra Vasooli Aghadi': BJP leader's jibe over Param Bir Singh's claims
The BJP has stepped up its attack on the Thackeray government, demanding resignation of Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, accused of extortion by former Mumbai top cop Param Bir Singh.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continued its attack on the ruling three-party coalition in Maharashtra, saying it should be renamed ‘Maharashtra Vasooli Aghadi’. The comment was made by BJP leader CT Ravi in the wake of extortion allegations made by former Mumbai top cop Param Bir Singh against Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh.
"I think Maharashtra is governed by ‘Maharashtra Vasooli Aghadi’. We demand CBI inquiry and his removal from the cabinet," Ravi said on Sunday, according to news agency ANI.
Singh wrote a letter to Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, who is heading the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government of Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress, claiming that Deshmukh asked Sachin Vaze - the cop arrested in connection with Mukesh Ambani bomb scare case - to extort ₹100 crore a month from Mumbai’s bars and restaurants. Deshmukh, a leader of the NCP, has denied Singh's allegations.
The 'letter bomb' has the potential to cast serious strains in the Maharashtra government, causing NCP chief Sharad Pawar to rush to resolve the crisis. Though Pawar said that allegations against Deshmukh are serious and it is the prerogative of the chief minister to take appropriate action, he rubbished claims that there is threat to the ruling alliance.
The BJP has stepped up its attack on the Thackeray government, demanding resignation of Deshmukh. Former Maharashtra chief minister and leader of the opppsition Devendra Fadnavis said on Sunday that the home minister must be sacked. He also questioned the silence of Thackeray and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar.
The BJP also staged demonstrations against Deshmukh in Mumbai.
The allegations were made by Singh a day after Deshmukh said that the police officer was moved out as Mumbai police commissioner so that cases pertaining to Vaze were probed without obstruction. In the letter, Param Bir Singh, who has now been posted as Commandant General of Home Guards, said that he has been "made a scapegoat to divert attention from the actual wrongdoers".
