BJP leaders ask Maharashtra governor to seek status report from govt

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A delegation of BJP leaders on Wednesday submitted a memorandum to Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and urged him to seek a "status report" from state chief secretary on the law and order situation.

Speaking to reporters, Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis said BJP leaders requested the governor to seek a detailed report from the state government as Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is not taking any action despite "numerous scandals" coming to fore over the past few days.

"Extortion is exposed...there is a transfer racket.. state officials are being threatened..all this is worrisome, but the chief minister remains silent. We requested the governor to seek a detailed report from the government as the CM is not taking any action," the former chief minister said.

Fadnavis said the governor has the right to seek such report from the state government.

"It will reveal state's inaction," he added.

Fadnavis said BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar compiled at least "100 incidents that had taken place in the state in the last one year which were anti-Constitutional and illegal.

Our hopes are now on the governor".

Fadnavis also took a dig at the Congress, which is one of the three constituents of the Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

"It seems the Congress does not have any stand....or is it a party to the extortion racket. How much share the Congress is getting out of such extortion should be made public?", he said.

Fadnavis' jibe came days after former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh wrote to the chief minister claiming that state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, who belongs to the NCP, had set a monthly "target" of collecting Rs 100 crore, including from bars and hotels in Mumbai, for police officers. Deshmukh had denied these allegations.

On Tuesday, Fadnavis claimed he had 6.3 GB data of telephone calls intercepted by then Commissioner of Intelligence Rashmi Shukla in which names of several key police officers figured.

He also met Union Home Secretary in Delhi and demanded a CBI probe into "corruption" in police transfers in Maharashtra.

Reacting to NCP minister Nawab Malik's claim that Fadnavis could face a legal action if he releases the call intercepts, the BJP leader said, "This MVA government has suppressed a cognizable offence and I have brought it out. I do not care if four more police complaints are filed against me. I will fight the case in court and will win it".

Fadnavis said the MVA government had no moral values and that the three parties (Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress) came together only to enjoy power.

Besides Fadnavis, the delegation comprised state BJP president Chandrakant Patil, former finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, BJP's Mumbai unit chief Mangal Prabhat Lodha and MLA Ashish Shelar.

Before meeting the governor, a senior BJP leader, who was part of the delegation, said the state lacks resolute leadership in the current scenario.

"The status report on law and order will reveal the grim situation prevailing in the state. We want the governor to submit the report to President," he said.

"We have been raising these issues but the state government is either ignoring them or playing them down," he added.

The MVA government came to power in November, 2019, after a month-long political drama, which included a brief spell of President's rule and an 80-hour-long Devendra Fadnavis-Ajit Pawar government.

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