Uddhav Thackeray lands in a tight spot; BJP wants CM to file report on current state of affairs in Maharashtra

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray

Pressure is building up on CM Uddhav Thackeray to initiate action against former intelligence commissioner Rashmi Shukla, accused of illegally tapping phones. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wants Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to ask Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to file a report on the current state of affairs in Maharashtra. On Wednesday, BJP's state delegation handed Koshyari about 100 instances of cases that according to them, showed deterioration of law and order, corruption and constitutional crisis.

Sources said Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari is empowered to ask the chief minister and the government to file a report and he can also summon officials concerned to Raj Bhavan. File pic/Pradeep Dhivar

Opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis said since the CM's silence in the allegations against Home Minister Anil Deshmukh was deafening, the constitutional head (governor) should make the head of the government (the CM) talk about it. "We have urged the governor to seek a report from the CM," he said.

Sources said the governor is empowered to ask the CM and the government to file a report and he can also summon officials concerned to the Raj Bhavan for briefing. Since the BJP has demanded President's rule in Maharashtra, the governor's role has become crucial in keeping the Maha Vikas Aghadi under pressure. In the past, Koshyari and the MVA government have run into each other multiple times, making it an unending skirmish.

Fadnavis at it again

Fadnavis has been targeting the Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party since the Antilia bomb scare case surfaced. On Wednesday, he dragged the Congress into the ‘extortion racket' alleged by ex-chief of city police Param Bir Singh. "The Congress share (in the fund collection) is not known, but all are haftakhor (extortionist). The Congress has been speaking in multiple voices," said Fadnavis.

The allegations triggered a sharp reaction from state Congress president Nana Patole. "The corrupt BJP shouldn't try such allegations against us. It was the BJP that employed several Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) workers in the previous government. It must be found how much (money) was diverted to the RSS," said Patole, adding the CM would be asked to probe the lateral entries in the erstwhile BJP-Sena government.