BJP demands President's rule in Maharashtra; NCP, Sena counter attack

Maharashtra top cop Param Bir Singh's allegations against state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Monday rocked proceedings in the Parliament with BJP demanding imposition of President's rule in the state.

NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena launched a sharp counter-attack, ruling out ouster of Deshmukh and accusing Singh, the former Mumbai Police Commissioner, of supporting criminals involved in operating dance bars and harassing policemen probing the case.

Addressing a press conference here, Pawar flashed a medical certificate from a Nagpur-based hospital stating that Deshmukh was admitted there for treatment of Covid-19 from February 5 to February 15 and later placed under home quarantine till February 27.

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“The claims by the former Commissioner of Police API Sachin Vaze meeting Deshmukh at his official residence fall flat after production of the hospital records,” Pawar said. However, within minutes, BJP functionary Amit Malviya posted a video of Deshmukh addressing a press conference on February 15, seeking to puncture Pawar's claims.

Deshmukh hurriedly issued a clarification saying he had interacted with the media after being discharged from hospital and en-route home for staying in self-isolation.

In the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur demanded action against Deshmukh before responding to questions related to his ministry. During Zero Hour, BJP members Manoj Kotak, Girish Bapat, Rakesh Singh and independent member Navneet Rana demanded a CBI probe into the allegations levelled by the former police commissioner. Rajya Sabha also witnessed disruptions on the issue.

“I would like to request the central government to impose President’s Rule in Maharashtra immediately. Maharashtra has become a lawless state. Police are asking for money because the ministers and Chief Minister himself are supporting them,” Bapat, a Lok Sabha member from Pune, said.

Shiv Sena floor leader Vinayak Raut rejected the allegations leveled by the BJP and accused the Centre of destabilising the state government led by the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi.

Both NCP and Shiv Sena accused the BJP of trying to divert the attention from investigation in the cases of recovery of explosives outside Mukesh Ambani's residence and the “assassination” of Mansukh Hiren.

“The main case here was not the allegations made by the former Commissioner of Police,” Pawar said adding that the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorist Squad was investigating the cases in the right direction.

“I got to know that ATS have arrested two people in connection to this case and investigating their involvement in assassination of late Mansukh Hiren,” the NCP supremo said.