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'Resorting to extortion is like...': Amruta Fadnavis lashes out at MVA govt
Sharad Pawar, the chief of MVA constituent Nationalist Congress Party, held a press conference in Delhi on Sunday where he said that there is no threat to the government due to the crisis.
At a time when the Maharastra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government is busy trying to resolve the Anil Deshmukh crisis triggered by extortion allegations, Amruta Fadnavis, the wife of former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, expressed her strong views on Twitter. Comparing the act of extortion to rape, Amruta Fadnavis said that "it injures the spirit and well-being of the innocent and the weak".
She used ₹100 crore as a hashtag in reference to the allegations made by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh, who said in a letter to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray that Deshmukh - the Maharashtra home minister - gave arrested cop Sachin Vaze a target to extort ₹100 crore from various city joints.
Since it surfaced on Saturday, the letter has shaken the political arena in Maharashtra. Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) quickly launched an attack on the ruling dispensation, demanding resignation of Deshmukh. Devendra Fadnavis even said that the chief minister should sack him.
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The BJP also organised a series of protests in a few Maharashtra cities demanding action against Deshmukh.
Sharad Pawar, the chief of MVA constituent Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), held a press conference in Delhi on Sunday where he said that there is no threat to the government due to the crisis. He also said that the allegations against Deshmukh are serious and it is the prerogative of CM Uddhav Thackeray to take appropriate action.
The NCP leaders also held a meeting at Pawar's residence in Delhi after which party leader Jayant Patil ruled out Deshmukh's resignation. All the three constituents of the MVA - Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress - will hold meetings on Monday where a decision is expected on Deshmukh.
On Saturday, Amruta Fadnavis, a banker by profession, said that things will go a long way now. "How many will have to be sacrificed to save the king?" Amruta tweeted.
Deshmukh, meanwhile, has denied the allegations against him, saying Param Bir Singh wrote the letter to save himself from legal action in the Mukesh Ambani security threat case, in which Vaze was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Deshmukh said that Singh was removed after some "serious lapses" were found in the case.
He has threatened to file a defamation case against Singh.
