Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday said Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray had lost the moral authority to govern, betraying signs of a spirited effort by the ruling dispensation at yet another effort to destabilise an Opposition-led state government.
The allegations of corruption against Maharashtra’s home minister Anil Deshmukh levelled by former Mumbai police chief Param Bir Singh have extended an opportunity to the BJP to launch another all-out effort to wrest power in a state considered the economic hub of the country.
“The Uddhav Thackeray government has lost the moral right to govern,” Prasad told reporters at the BJP headquarters, accusing the Opposition alliance government in the state of running an “extortion” syndicate.
Prasad was joined by former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who addressed the media in Mumbai, seeking to pile all out pressure on the coalition Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government.
Party insiders said the central leadership has assured Fadnavis of full support in his effort to dislodge the Uddhav government. “Fadnavis has claimed he has enough ammunition to torment the alliance government,” one BJP leader said.
After the former police commissioner’s letter alleging corruption, Fadnavis on Tuesday sought to pile more pressure by claiming a transfer posting racket in the police department and sought a CBI probe. The BJP has been unable to get over the loss of power in the key state of Maharashtra since one of their oldest ally Shiv Sena parted ways and joined hands with the rival NCP-Congress block after the polls in November 2019. The Sena had contested the polls in alliance with the BJP and parted ways later.
A brazen attempt to break the NCP and usurp power by aligning with Sharad Pawar’s nephew Ajit Pawar too failed. Fadnavis was sworn in along with Ajit Pawar in a midnight coup but had to ultimately bite the dust after failing to get the numbers.
Since then, Fadnavis, the designated leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, has been desperately trying to destabilise the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
“Fadnavis had claimed the Aghadi government will fall in two months. Now it’s over one-and-a-half years and so the desperation to use all kinds of means to defame our government,” NCP leader Nawab Malik said.
The Opposition alliance has accused the BJP and the central government of using police officers and central agencies to tarnish their image and bring down the Uddhav government like they had done with the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh.
The BJP, driven by the declared dream of capturing power from “panchayat to Parliament”, has succeeded in dislodging two Opposition-ruled state governments in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh post their comeback in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. A similar effort last year in the Congress-ruled Rajasthan failed but they appear determined on getting back Maharashtra.
The presence of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, a seasoned politician, as the chief architect of the alliance government appears to have made the effort difficult for the BJP in Maharashtra.
On Tuesday, both law minister Prasad and Fadnavis targeted Pawar for defending Deshmukh over the corruption allegations and ruling out his resignation.
Prasad claimed Pawar had used wrong facts to defend Deshmukh and said his distinguished political credibility had been tainted.
“If Sharad Pawar wants his credibility to be retrieved then he should use his authority to make Anil Deshmukh resign,” Prasad said.
The BJP feels that if they can force the home minister to resign, they would be very close to dislodging Uddhav, who they feel had betrayed them by joining hands with the NCP-Congress.
