Fadnavis asked me to implicate four MVA leaders, says former Maharashtra Minister Anil Deshmukh

File picture of Maharashtra MLA Anil Deshmukh
| Photo Credit: Emmanual Yogini

Former Maharashtra Home Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) MLA Anil Deshmukh has confirmed rationalist Shyam Manav’s claims that Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis through a third person had approached the former to implicate four former Ministers of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government including the then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, failing which he would face an arrest. A charge that Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has denied.

Mr. Manav, a social reformer and head of Akhil Bharatiya Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, had made allegations about the plans to implicate four leaders of Maharashtra by signing an affidavit. Mr. Deshmukh was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in November 2021 on graft and money laundering charges. He spent over 13 months in Arthur Road Prison, Mumbai.

Mr. Deshmukh stepped down as Home Minister in April 2021, after then Commissioner of Police, Mumbai accused him of asking the police to collect money from hotel and bar owners across the city.

“Three years ago, Mr. Fadnavis had sent his close aide to me and connected both of us. I was given an envelope asking to get four affidavits done. Had I agreed, Mr. Thackeray, the then Finance Minister Ajit Pawar, the then Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray and the then Transport Minister Anil Parab would have been in trouble. As I refused to comply, I was arrested by ED,” Mr. Deshmukh said.

The former Home Minister claimed that the “implication charges” included Mr. Thackeray asking Mr. Deshmukh to earn from kickbacks from the civic corporation, for the Shiv Sena (UBT) youth leader Mr. Aaditya Thackeray was to frame him in the Disha Salian death case. In this manner, he alleged that he was pressured to give a statement on these four leaders.

“At the right moment, I will reveal who this messenger was, who had approached me at the official residence…I was also told that as Mr. Pawar belongs to the same party (undivided NCP), if you want, you may exclude him from the list…I don’t talk without evidence,” Mr. Deshmukh shared.

Responding to the allegation levelled, Mr. Fadnavis not only called it baseless but also counter alleged that his own party men had shared evidence against Mr. Thackeray, NCP (SP) Chief Sharad Pawar and controversial police officer Sachin Vaze. “If false allegations are made against me, I will make the evidence public at the right time,” Mr. Fadnavis countered.