With each passing day, Maharashtra’s Home Minister Anil Deshmukh is finding himself in murky waters over the startling revelations by former Mumbai Police Chief Parambir Singh that the NCP leader was at the centre of the Rs. 100 crore extortion racket as well as the police transfer racket. While Shiv Sena and Congress, the two other parties in the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition are ready to throw Deshmukh under the bus, it is NCP supremo Sharad Pawar that has come to the rescue of his party men.
Read more: Shiv Sena throws NCP leader Anil Deshmukh under the bus. Sharad Pawar is not going to take this well
As reported by TFI, during a press conference, Pawar while launching a passionate defence went to the lengths of lying to protect Deshmukh. Pawar claimed that the NCP leader was admitted to a hospital from 5-15 February in Nagpur after being infected with coronavirus. However, contrary to Pawar’s claims, Deshmukh had addressed a press conference on 15th February — the day on which Deshmukh was supposed to be in-home quarantine according to the NCP supremo.
The reporters caught Pawar’s lies and interjected instantly but the NCP leader was quick to shrug off those comments. However, in doing so, Pawar looked incredibly flustered and seemed that he had lost grip on the situation.
The power of social media and live fact-checking. Kudos to the journos who refused to let him get away! pic.twitter.com/I32xXWGYZF
— Ajit Datta (@ajitdatta) March 22, 2021
Read more: Sharad Pawar left with no answers as he gets caught lying while trying to save Anil Deshmukh
It is being insinuated in hushed tones that Deshmukh’s alleviation from an ordinary MLA to the second most important post of ‘Home Minister’ in the state of Maharashtra was engineered by none other than Sharad Pawar.
It is a fact hidden from no one that Pawar likes to sit near the power centre of any government. While, at his age and with his prevailing health conditions, it is difficult for Pawar to engage in active government duty. But being a politician of shrewd mind, he has made sure that he has his men guarding the important posts which help him pull strings from behind.
Deshmukh was a puppet minister whose strings were pulled by Pawar. The out and out defence that Pawar has undertaken for Deshmukh speaks volume that the NCP supremo has personal stakes involved in the chain of events. It cannot be ruled out that Pawar was the one who called the shots in the ‘Hafta vasooli’ syndicate as accused by Param Bir Singh with Deshmukh, being the innocuous mercenary, simply executing the tasks of his master.
If Deshmukh is snared in the investigative agencies net, he will spew out the secrets of Pawar and his coterie of leaders which could spell doom for NCP, especially with the BMC elections fast approaching.
Read more: Uddhav-Pawargovt has been caught red-handed and BJP will now win the BMC elections in a landslide
When news of Deshmukh’s resignation, allegedly planted by Shiv Sena in the media, started making waves — the panicked Home Minister instantly went to meet his party high command and supremo, Sharad Pawar. Turns out, even Pawar was a bit miffed at Deshmukh for his handling of the entire event. However, throwing out Deshmukh, a core NCP member, who has access to Pawar’s secrets was a risk too big to be taken at this stage. Thus, the relentless support to Deshmukh.
For the first time in his political career, Pawar is staring at such an uphill battle where his back is against the wall. The coming few days could be the make or break moment for NCP as their supremo goes all out in the defence of Deshmukh to protect his legacy, albeit tainted.
