Allies break silence: Congress demands Maha HM's resignation amid 'extortion' allegations

As Maharashtra government huddles to discuss ex-Mumbai CP Param Bir Singh's letter alleging 'extortion' by Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, Congress leader Rashid Alvi on Saturday, has demanded Deshmukh's resignation. Claiming that Congress' reputation was at stake, Alvi stated that no questions should be raised on congress. Pulling up Param Bir Singh for keeping his silence till date, he asked why did he speak up after his transfer.

Congress demands Deshmukh's resignation

"It is a very serious allegation. Why did he not speak then? After he was transferred he spoke now, why not earlier?," said Alvi, commenting on Param Bir Singh's letter. He added, "Whether allegations on Deshmukh are right or wrong is a matter of investigation. Anil Deshmukh should resign. Congress party's reputation is at stake. But there should be no questions raised on congress party".

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena chief spokesperson Sanjaya Raut denied to comment on the issue. He said, "I don’t know what letter is about. Whatever is the topic is, the senior leaders of the govt will only talk over it." Sources report that CM Uddhav Thackeray has called an emergency meeting of all top ministers and the state secretary over the ex-CP's letter. Ex-CM Devendra Fadnavis has demanded Deshmukh's resignation and sought an impartial inquiry to be conducted by Central agencies or a court-monitored probe in the alternative.

Casting aspersions on the CM, the BJP leader said, "If Param Bir Singh brought this to the attention of the CM, then he should have immediately acted on it. Possibly to save his government, the CM might have ignored it. But ignoring such a matter is akin to leaving the state vulnerable to threats." Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh has refuted all 'extortion allegations', tweeting that 'involvement of Param Bir Singh and Sachin Vaze in the Mansukh Hiren case seems likely', and hence he was making such allegations to save himself.

What has Param Bir Singh claimed?

In his 8-page letter to Thackeray, Param Bir Singh has refuted Deshmukh's statements that his transfer was due to 'serious lapses in the investigation', the 'serious lapses are not pardonable', and that his transfer was 'not on administrative grounds'. Furthermore, Singh alleges that Vaze had been summoned by Deshmukh to his residence several times in the past few months 'setting a target of accumulating Rs 100 crores a month' from 1,750 bars, restaurants and other establishments in Mumbai - collecting Rs 2-3 lakhs from each. He added that the Home Minister had said that a monthly collection of Rs 40-50 crores were achievable from such establishments and the rest could be 'collected from other sources'. Accepting his police force's full responsibility, Singh in the letter claimed that there was no evidence against him and invited to check the call records of Sachin Vaze if need be. Param Bir Singh has been transferred to Maharashtra (Home Guards) after ex-Mumbai API Sachin Vaze's arrest in the Antilia bomb scare case.