Maharashtra governor accepts Anil Deshmukh's resignation; Dilip Walse Patil gets home ministry

NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. File pic

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Monday night accepted the resignation of Home Minister Anil Deshmukh and handed over the charge of the key department to cabinet minister Dilip Walse Patil of the NCP, the Raj Bhavan said.

Walse Patil was holding the labour and excise portfolios and these have been allocated to other NCP ministers.

Earlier in the day, Deshmukh, an NCP leader, resigned as the home minister after the Bombay High Court ordered a preliminary inquiry by the CBI into allegations of corruption levelled against him by former Mumbai police chief Param Bir Singh.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray forwarded the resignation letter of Deshmukh to Koshyari with a request to accept it, the CMO said in a statement.

A Raj Bhavan statement in the night said the governor has accepted Deshmukh's resignation.

Koshyari also accepted Thackeray''s recommendation to allocate the portfolios held by Walse Patil to NCP ministers Hasan Mushrif (labour) and Ajit Pawar (excise) who will look after them as additional charge, the statement said.

Mushrif is the rural development minister, while Ajit Pawar is the deputy chief minister and also holds the finance portfolio.

The NCP is a key constituent in the Shiv Sena-led MVA government in which the Congress is the third ally.

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