As the cracks amidst the Maha Vikas Aghadi continue to emerge, the unholy alliance is on the brink after the Antilia Bomb scare case, the mysterious death of Mansukh Hiren and now, explosive revelations by the former Mumbai Commissioner of Police, Param Bir Singh as the former top cop exposed how the Maharashtra Home Minister, Anil Deshmukh was involved in the extortion racket. As the clamour grows for the resignation of Anil Deshmukh, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray seems to have no moral authority to continue as there is no way he would not have been aware of the alleged extortion racket run by Anil Deshmukh and co.
After being unceremoniously shunted out of office by Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, Param Bir Singh has waged a war against the Maha Vikas Aghadi as in an explosive letter to Uddhav Thackeray, Singh alleged that Deshmukh directed tainted and suspended cop Sachin Vaze to collect close to Rs.100 crore rupees for him every month. This has reignited the fears that the dreaded ‘hafta vasooli’ culture has made a grand comeback in Maharashtra, and is flourishing under the rule of the NCP-Congress-Shiv Sena combine.
Singh’s allegations are serious – a fact seconded by NCP supremo Sharad Pawar. While Param Bir Singh officially reported to Anil Deshmukh, CM Uddhav Thackeray should have ideally been aware of such a massive scale of extortion taking place under his leadership and government.
It is tough to believe that Uddhav had no knowledge of the alleged extortion racket and was just an innocent bystander. No matter which way you look at the episode, it seems impossible for a sitting Chief Minister to be so aloof from what is happening in his state, and especially in the city of Mumbai which is a stronghold of the Shiv Sena with the party continuing to hold a tight grip on the city. It is no coincidence that Shiv Sena is being blamed for the infamous for the alleged ‘Hafta Vasooli’ in Mumbai.
Singh in his explosive letter said, “At one of the briefing sessions in the wake of the Antilia incident held in mid-March 2021 when I was called late evening at Varsha to brief you (referring to Uddhav Thackeray), I had pointed out several misdeeds and malpractices being indulged into by the Honourable Home Minister. I have similarly briefed the Honourable Deputy Chief Minister, Maharashtra, the President of the Nationalist Congress Party, Shri Sharad Pawar and other senior Ministers also about the misdeeds and malpractices. On my briefings, I noticed that some of the Ministers were already aware about some aspects mentioned by me to them.”
Add to this how Uddhav Thackeray and Sanjay Raut jumped to a passionate defence of Sachin Vaze during the initial phase of the Antilia Bomb Scare case and even mocked the credentials of the National Investigative Agency and later decided to ditch Vaze only when it became impossible to defend him.
This whole case has snowballed dangerously for the Maha Vikas Aghadi and has gotten too close to Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar, who seem most vulnerable in a long time which is a rare sight in itself. It seems that Uddhav allegedly let this happen under his nose and if found guilty, he must resign.