NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: The treasury benches and even ministers raised the “Rs 100 crore collection” charge against Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh in Parliament on Monday, demanding MVA government’s dismissal.
In Rajya Sabha, I&B minister Prakash Javadekar, rising to reply to a question from Congress MP Chaya Verma, said he could not hear the member in the din but he had indeed heard of “vasooli culture” in Maharashtra which was a shame. He said CM Uddhav Thackeray had no moral authority to continue in office. “What does it show if his trustworthy personnel plant bombs as alleged by ATS?” he asked. In Nagpur, state BJP chief Chandrakant Patil said the party unit would not formally approach the governor to push for President’s rule in Maharashtra. Patil said, “We will convey the message to the governor through press conferences and public speeches.”
To the discomfiture of Sena benches in Lok Sabha, junior minister Anurag Thakur in LS deviated from answering a query on CSR funds to remark that he had heard of extortion demands in Maharashtra. He was responding to a question put by a Sena MP whom he told that the most CSR spending was in the state. BJP MPs also demanded a CBI inquiry into charges made by ex-Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh.
Rajya Sabha was adjourned soon after zero hour began amid uproar over BJP members trying to raise corruption charges levelled by Singh against Deshmukh. The matter dominated discussions in Lok Sabha during zero hour. Opposition, led by Shiv Sena, rejected the resignation demand with party MP Vinayak Raut claiming an attempt was being made for the last 14 months to remove the MVA government and install BJP.
Raising the matter in Lok Sabha, Manoj Kotak, BJP MP from Mumbai, sought Deshmukh’s resignation. Kotak was joined by BJP MPs like Girish Bapat and Poonam Mahajan and independent MP Navneet Rana. Ex-BJP finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar demanded governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari immediately send a report to the President on the current situation in the state. He added that the CM has not even bothered to issue a statement regarding the allegations. Opposition leader in legislative council Pravin Darekar met the governor and spoke about the law and order situation in state.
Meanwhile, a delegation led by Prakash Ambedkar, grandson of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi member, met Koshyari on Monday over the alleged nexus between criminal elements from the state administration and political parties in the state and demanded that the governor should recommend dissolving the Maha Vikas Aghadi government and President’s rule be imposed.