Heat on NCP as CBI gets its foot in Maharashtra door

When a party that did grandstanding by nonchalantly suggesting an impartial inquiry by retired supercop Julio Ribeiro into allegations of extortion against its then minister, later sought to block a CBI probe against him, irony died a thousand deaths. It could be argued with some merit that the opposition wasn’t to a probe per se but to the CBI, given its record of being a political tool of the Centre. But the confidence the NCP displayed on day one was gone; its nervousness was now showing. The NCP had sought to brazen it out when the allegations by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Parambir Singh first surfaced, but was forced to ask its home minister Anil Deshmukh to resign after the Bombay High Court directed a CBI probe against him, making his continuation untenable. The Supreme Court concurred with the HC that charges of directing police officers to extort a whopping Rs 100 crore as monthly protection money from various businesses were indeed grave and warranted a thorough probe.

The CBI now has its foot in the Maharashtra door that was already opened a tad for the Centre with the NIA taking over the probe into the Antilia bomb scare case against ‘encounter specialist’ Sachin Waze. Its report is expected to throw up dirt on the invisible hand behind Waze’s reappointment in the police force, making him the crime branch head while the stated objective for his rehire was the shortage of officers for Covid management; and how he was reporting to the Commissioner directly, leapfrogging the chain of command. How much corroborative evidence it can find to make Singh’s allegations against Deshmukh stick remains to be seen. As a parting shot before he resigned, the vindictive strongman from Vidarbha ordered a full departmental inquiry against Singh, opening a new front against the disgruntled officer. Just to recall, Deshmukh’s lack of tact in explaining away Singh’s transfer had forced the latter to show the minister the mirror.

Now look at the larger picture. If the BJP does well in Bengal, political turbulence could be expected elsewhere, like in Maharashtra and Rajasthan. Was Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s recent secret meeting with NCP chief Sharad Pawar an indication in that direction?