Anil Parab— The Shiv Sena leader who hands out cheques, gets clicked and then snatches cheques

Anil Parab, the minister of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government has once again caught the controversies. Earlier this year, the Western Ghats along the Konkan coast in Maharashtra had witnessed record-breaking rainfall, followed by devastating floods and landslides. In order to compensate for the calamity, the government had announced relief funds and flood rescue operations were also run by the NDRF.

In connection to this, the minister of Ratnagiri district reached Pasora village to distribute aid to the flood victims. However, the aid cheques were later taken back from the victims after the photo session. The minister said that the compensation amount will be directly credited to their account digitally.

Since the end of the third week in July, Maharashtra had witnessed excess rainfall. As a consequence, 213 causalities have been reported. Hundreds of people are missing and others have no choice except to reside in relief camps. The people, scared of losing all the hopes fueled the incident and still, there has no explanation come from the minister or the government.

A twitter user in her tweet said, “Breaking! SS minister Anil Parab hands over cheques to relatives of deceased in #MaharashtraFloods But it was all just a PR exercise. The cheques were taken back after photo session & people told that money will be transferred online. What a cruel joke on Marathi manoos.”

However, it is not the first time that Anil Parab has been accused of such activities. He has been in limelight for allegations of extortion, prompting the BJP to call for an in-depth probe. Earlier this year, the suspended assistant Police Inspector Sachin Waze had alleged that the minister asked him to collect Rs 50 crore from a trust facing an inquiry, to close the probe. He also claimed that Parab had ordered him to make certain collections from supposedly fraudulent contractors with the Mumbai civic body.

It is assumed that Anil Parab is one of the prominent leaders from Shiv Sena. But, ever since the news of the withdrawal of cheques broke out, he along with his government has been receiving flak from the people.

This is not the first time that the MVA government has abandoned the people. Last year, when Maharashtrians were faced with high electricity bills during lockdown, Energy Minister Nitin Raut, had announced that the government will not be able to provide any relaxation. The people of Maharashtra have lost faith in the Maharashtra government. Moreover, they are in shock and frightened by the fluctuating character of the ministers of the government.