On Monday, the BJP pointed its guns at Maharashtra Prime Minister Uddhav Thackeray, saying he had lost the moral authority to rule the state following the resignation of Anil Deshmukh as the state’s interior minister.
Deshmukh had resigned after the Bombay High Court ordered an IWC investigation into allegations of corruption leveled against him by former Bombay Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh.
At a press conference, BJP leader and Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad asked whether Thackeray bears any moral responsibility following Deshmukh’s resignation as state interior minister.
So many major incidents have occurred under his rule, Prasad said, referring to the Sachin Vaze case and the corruption allegations by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh against Deshmukh.
Prasad said the BJP hopes the issue will be properly investigated. “The BJP hopes that all the ramifications of this issue will be investigated in a fair and adequate manner and that those involved will be held to account,” said the Union minister, quoted by ANI.
BJP leader and former state CM Devendra Fadnavis also questioned Thackeray’s silence on the issue of the corruption allegations against Deshmukh.
Fadnavis said Deshmukh’s resignation was expected and that he had no other choice. “He should have remembered his morals the first day the accusations were made,” said the BJP leader.
“The government has been formed betraying the mandate of the people. This is an auto-rickshaw government with leaders of the three parties who regard the government as their own fiefdom. Each minister considers himself a prime minister. People are now realizing that what I was saying is true, ”Fadnavis said.
BJP state chief Chandrakant Patil also said he is happy Deshmukh has resigned, adding that there will be many “shocking revelations” in the CBI investigation.
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