It has been a turbulent few days for the Maharashtra government. Days after former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh accused Home Minister Anil Deshmukh of corruption, the controversy is alive and thriving. BJP leaders have mounted a scathing attack against the tri-party Maha Vikas Aghadi administration, with many calling for his resignation.
While NCP chief Sharad Pawar had countered the allegations, noting that Deshmukh had been hospitalised with COVID-19 at the timeframe given in the allegation, the Opposition BJP is far from convinced. On Wednesday morning, a delegation led by former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis arrived at the Raj Bhavan to meet with Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.
The meeting is taking place amid the BJP's attempt to corner the Shiv Sena-led government over police officer Sachin Waze's arrest in the case related to bomb scare near Mukesh Ambani's house, corruption allegations against home minister Anil Deshmukh and intelligence department's report about alleged bribery in police transfers.
"The state has been direction-less for quite some time. We want governor Koshyari to seek a detailed status report from the chief secretary of Maharashtra," a senior BJP leader had told news agency PTI ahead of the meeting.
Fadnavis' arrival at the Raj Bhavan comes hours after Deshmukh met with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray at latter's residence 'Varsha' on Tuesday night. Earlier on Tuesday, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had come down heavily on both the Ministers, dubbing the the three-party alliance government "of extortion, by extortion and for extortion".
Over the last few days, BJP leaders and workers have staged protests in various cities demanding resignation of the Home Minister, and the Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 2 PM on Monday following an uproar in the House over the allegations. Fadnavis had also recently demanded Deshmukh's resignation over Param Bir Singh's allegations
In the meantime, the Maharashtra Cabinet is scheduled to hold a meeting later today. Several ongoing issues including Singh's Supreme Court challenge to his transfer to the Home Guards department and DG Maharashtra State Security Corporation (MSSC)'s leave after expressing unhappiness over Maharashtra DGP Rajnish Sheth's appointment to his post are likely to be discussed. This will also be the first meeting after the Sachin Waze episode came to light.
