Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday refrained from confirming the reports of his meeting with NCP supremo Sharad Pawar saying that “everything can’t be made public”.

Amit Shah has indicated that the meeting with Pawar did take place in Ahmadabad though he did not reveal any details. The incident has upset Congress and the Sena at the crucial time when the BJP has launched an onslaught on the Uddhav Thackeray-led state government.

Advertisement

The development comes at a time when Congress, Shiv Sena and NCP-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra is facing sharp criticism from the BJP over the allegations made by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh against State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh.

On March 25, Deshmukh had written a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to investigate the corrupt malpractices allegations levelled against him by Param Bir Singh.

Earlier, on March 20, Devendra Fadnavis had demanded Deshmukh’s resignation.

Param Bir Singh had written a letter to Thackeray alleging that Deshmukh had indulged in “malpractices” and asked suspended Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Vaze to collect Rs 100 crore every month.

Following corruption allegations levelled against Deshmukh, on March 24, a delegation of BJP leaders, led by Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly, Devendra Fadnavis met the Governor and handed over a memorandum, stating that the Vikas Aghadi government has lost the moral ground to remain in power.

BJP has launched a relentless attack on the Uddhav Thackeray led MVA government after an SUV was found abandoned outside Antilia, the home of industrialist Mukesh Ambani on February 26.

The situation turned grim with the subsequent death of a Thane businessman Mansukh Hiran and the arrest and suspension of Sachin Vaze.

The Maharashtra Government had removed Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh from his post and transferred him to Home Guards on March 17 and Hemant Nagrale was made the new Mumbai Police Commissioner.

Meanwhile, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday took Vaze to the bridge over the Mithi river in connection with the probe of Mansukh Hiran’s death case.

The NIA divers recovered computer CPUs, two number plates carrying the same registration number, and other items from the Mithi river in Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex. Vaze was also present at the spot.

Hiran, the owner of the vehicle that was found containing explosives materials outside the house of Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, was found dead on March 5 in Thane. Investigation into his death was being probed by Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), till the MHA handed over the probe to the NIA.

Vaze, the Assistant Police Inspector in the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) who was in charge of the Hiran case, was in NIA custody till March 25, for his alleged role and involvement in placing the explosives-laden vehicle outside the residence of Ambani.

Later a special NIA court on March 25 allowed the agency custody till April 3.

There has been a spar between NCP and Shiv Sena over Anil Deshmukh while Congress is staying a silent spectator even while speculations do rounds on the motive behind the purported meeting between NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

(With agency inputs)