It is a serious allegation by former Police Commissioner of Mumbai, Parambir Singh against his own boss, the Home Minister of Maharashtra that Anil Deshmukh, a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA and Home Minister of Maharashtra. The allegation is that the Home Minister Anil Deshmukh asked a much junior Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Vaze to extort Rs 100 crore per month from various restaurants, bars etc. This sensational allegation was on email sent by Parambir Singh on Saturday who later verified its authenticity on Sunday morning before the media.
Parambir Singh was transferred to a low-key post in the home guard department and replaced by Maharashtra director general of police (DGP) Hemant Nagrale was made the new Mumbai Police commissioner on Wednesday last week. This all happened soon after the arrest of Sachin Vaze last week by the National Investigative Agency (NIA) investigating the suspicious ‘murder’ of Mansukh Hiren, a Thane-based businessman. Needless to mention here that NIA reports to the Union government and not to the Maha Vikas Agaadhi (MVA) government, an alliance of Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP led by Uddav Thackeray of Shiv Sena.
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Allegations are that Sachin Vaze of the Mumbai Police was engaged in planting a car laden with gelatin sticks outside the residence of one of India’s leading industrialists. Vaze, a “close and trustworthy” staff of Parambir Singh, who was Mumbai police chief until he was transferred abruptly on Wednesday, had been using Mansukh Hiren’s Scorpio SUV for some time (four months according to Hiren’s wife) before it was parked outside the business tycoon’s house. Other pieces of evidence that would seem to point to Vaze’s alleged involvement seems to have been leaked to the media by the Union government controlled NIA, which has taken over the investigation.
The final decision on Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, battling corruption allegations by former Mumbai police chief Parambir Singh, lies with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, ally Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar said on Sunday afternoon. He, however, questioned the timing of the allegations by Parambir Singh, who was replaced over lapses in the business tycoon security scare probe days before. NCP leader Sharad Pawar said he would suggest an independent investigation by former top cop Julio Ribeiro against Anil Deshmukh as charges are ‘serious’ and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray thinks he has to go. The alliance leaders will meet in Delhi on Monday and take a final decision on Anil Deshmukh but the lower level party leaders are of the opinion that Home Minister Deshmukh should not resign from his post.
Sentiments prevailing in the power corridors say that Deshmukh’s handling of the Home Ministry has left too much room for criticism and backlash. Political pundits believe that the letter written by the former Mumbai Police Commissioner to the Chief Minister through email may pave the way for a reshuffle of ministerial berths in the coming days.
In fact, earlier last week, when Uddhav Thackeray and NCP president Sharad Pawar met to take stock of the situation after Vaze’s arrest, they are said to have discussed changes both in the Mumbai Police and the Home Ministry. While the Mumbai Police Commissioner was changed within two days of that meeting, the decision on changing the Home minister was left to the NCP, to which he belongs. With Pawar in Delhi for the Parliament session, an immediate sacking of Deshmukh seems to be unlikely. Deshmukh had on Friday flown to Delhi for a personal audience with Pawar for an hour long meeting with his party boss.
With both NCP and Congress leaders claiming that Parambir Singh’s statement is part of a conspiracy hatched by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to defame the MVA government, it appears that coalition leaders have decided that if Deshmukh has to go, it will be at a time of their choosing. Meanwhile, the pressure on the MVA government has been mounted by the leader of opposition in the State Assembly and former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis who has asked for the sacking of Home Minister Anil Deshmukh if he does not resign.
All eyes are now on the Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh who is facing the toughest political battle of his life time. The silence of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is deafening. He awaits his important alliance partner in his three-party legged government NCP to take a final call before he as a Chief Minister takes the ceremonial action of either dismissing or accepting the resignation of his own Home Minister. While the BJP has demanded Deshmukh’s resignation, his NCP party members and alliance partners of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, which includes Congress have termed the matter as serious but have ruled out replacing him.
