RS Prasad urges Sharad Pawar to salvage his 'political credibility', hits back at Sena

Addressing a press briefing on Tuesday, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad opined that NCP chief Sharad Pawar can restore his credibility only by asking Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh to resign. This comes in the wake of ex-Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh levelling extortion charges at Deshmukh. Elaborating on Pawar's long stint in politics, Prasad lamented that he lied in a bid to prove that Deshmukh and Vaze never met in the month of February. The BJP leader also raised suspicion over the ATS not handing over the investigation into Mansukh Hiren's murder to the NIA.

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad remarked, "I would very respectfully urge Sharad Pawarji who is a very senior public figure in the country having adorned the office of Chief Minister of Maharashtra 4 times, the Defence Minister of the country, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, a Minister for 10 years in the UPA government. A serious dent has been caused to his political credibility by the patent falsehood which he was made to speak about the illness and non-availability of Anil Deshmukh. In a democracy of the size of India, surely he will like his credibility to be restored. And I believe the only way it can be restored is- Sharad Pawarji kindly use your authority to make Anil Deshmukh resign." 

In a sharp retort to Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, who accused BJP of having a hypocritical stance on Singh's letter, the BJP leader stressed, "Narendra Modiji himself was examined by the Supreme Court-formed SIT. Wasn't he interrogated for 12 hours or not? Did we oppose it? The Supreme Court said that there will not even be any retired officer hailing from Gujarat (in the SIT)...Wasn't Amit Shahji sent to jail or not? As a student of law, I am saying this as a student of law- the order of the Supreme Court was wrong. They had barred Amit Shah from entering Gujarat for one year. What kind of talk is this? This is an issue of corruption. It is a serious issue." 

Watch Ravi Shankar Prasad's full media interaction here:

Ex-Mumbai top cop levels explosive charge

In a letter addressed to Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, Singh refuted Deshmukh's remarks that his transfer as Home Guards Commandant General was due to serious lapses in the Antilia bomb scare case. Moreover, he alleged that the NCP leader had asked Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Vaze to extort Rs.100 crore per month from 1750 bars, restaurants and other establishments in Mumbai. However, the Maharashtra Home Minister rejected these claims and announced that he will file a defamation suit against Singh. While NCP chief Sharad Pawar has dismissed the need for Deshmukh's resignation, the MVA as a collective is yet to officially rule out this possibility.