The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on Sunday, stepped up its attack against the Maha Vikas Aghadi government and reiterated that Home Minister Anil Deshmukh’s resignation is a must in the wake of the serious charges made by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh.
“This matter cannot be investigated till he stays in his post. Hence, he must resign,” Devendra Fadnavis demanded. “We demand for the home minister's resignation. If he doesn't, then the chief minister must remove him. An impartial probe must be conducted” he added.
The Leader of the Opposition also questioned why the CM didn’t act on the matter when he was intimated about it earlier. “Who runs the home department? Home Minister Anil Deshmukh or Shiv Sena leader Anil Parab?” he asked.
Fadnavis questioned Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar's statement that the latter would advise the CM to seek retired IPS officer Julio Ribeiro's help to look into the claims made by Singh. He asked how Ribeiro, who retired 15 years ago, would have the authority to conduct an inquiry of Singh and Deshmukh. And whether he would be able to conduct a fair probe?
The former CM accused Pawar of trying to deviate from the truth. "Pawar formed this government and so he is defending them. Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Vaze was brought back in service on the orders of the CM and home minister. Pawar is fleeting away from the truth," he said.
Vaze was reinstated by a committee headed by Singh. “How is it possible that he was given important cases and postings without the knowledge of the CM and the home minister?” he asked.
According to Fadnavis, Singh is not the first person to raise such allegations. Earlier, a report was submitted by former Maharashtra Director General of Police (DGP) Subodh Jaiswal about a racket involving touts in transferring police officials in exchange of money. However, the state government didn't take any action on that report. “Jaiswal had submitted a report containing the full transcript to the chief minister and the home minister via the then commissioner of intelligence,” he said. However, he alleged that the report has been dumped by the state government.
Meanwhile, BJP workers, on Sunday, staged demonstrations across the state and demanded the resignation of Deshmukh over Singh's letter.