Senior BJP leader and former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said NCP chief Sharad Pawar is trying to save the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in view of allegations of corruption levelled by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh against state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh.
Addressing a press conference in Nagpur, he added that ex-Maharashtra DGP Subodh Jaiswal had submitted a report to CM Thackeray on a bribery racket in police transfers, which was not acted upon. Claiming that Pawar is “fleeting away from the truth”, Fadnavis said that the allegations were too grave to be ignored.
“Param Bir Singh is not the first person to raise such allegations. Earlier, a report was submitted by then Maharashtra DGP Subodh Jaiswal about a racket involving touts in transferring police officials in exchange of money, but the state government didn’t take any action on that report.
He said Pawar is the one who has formed the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government and hence, he is defending it.
The Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly also questioned Pawar’s statement that the latter would suggest the CM to seek retired IPS officer Julio Ribeiro’s help for looking into the claims made by Singh.
Fadnavis said how Ribeiro, who retired 15 years ago, can conduct an “inquiry of Param Bir Singh and the home minister. Will he have that authority and can he conduct a fair probe?”
Meanwhile, BJP workers on Sunday staged demonstrations in Nagpur demanding resignation of Deshmukh over Singh’s letter.
