Senior NCP leader Dilip Walse Patil has on Monday taken charge as Maharashtra Home Minister after Anil Deshmukh's resignation. Meanwhile, Rural Development Minister Hasan Mushrif has been given additional charge of the Labour Department, while Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has been given charge of the Excise Department in addition to Finance and Planning. Both Labour and Excise departments were held by Walse Patil.
Who is Dilip Walse Patil?
Born on October 30, 1956, Dilip Walse Patil is a seasoned politician. He is son of former Congress MLA and Sharad Pawar’s friend Dattatray Walse Patil. He began his career as NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s personal assistant.
Patil fought his first election on a Congress ticket from the Ambegaon Assembly constituency in 1990 and won. He has held the seat since. In 1999, he followed Pawar into the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
In his political career spanning over three decades, Patil has headed important Ministries including Finance and Planning, Energy Ministry, Higher and Technical Education Ministry, and Medical Education Ministry. He has also served as the Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly.
Why did Anil Deshmukh resign?
The Bombay HC on Monday asked the CBI to start a preliminary inquiry within 15 days into corruption allegations against Anil Deshmukh by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh. The court was hearing a plea of the petitioner Dr Jaishri Patil regarding the matter.
After the court order, Deshmukh met NCP president Sharad Pawar and expressed his desire to step down as he felt it was inappropriate to continue in office after the CBI steps in, Nawab Malik said. "Deshmukh went to hand over the letter to Thackeray after Pawar gave his "green signal" to quit," Malik added.
Later, Deshmukh also tweeted a copy of the letter, in which he said the High Court had passed an order for a preliminary probe by the CBI into the petition filed by advocate Jayshri Patil into the allegations. "I don't have the moral right to continue in office after the court order.I have decided to quit. Kindly relieve me from my post," Deshmukh's resignation letter said.
