Maha Congress dares BJP to expose 'ex-minister' instead of issuing threats

Nagpur: Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole on Thursday challenged ruling ally Bharatiya Janata Party's Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to take action against a Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) ex-minister Anil Deshmukh of the Nationalist Congress Party (SP), instead of merely issuing threats to 'expose' him.

Reacting sharply to Fadnavis’ statements on Wednesday that he had in possession some audio-video clips of Deshmukh which he would make public if the latter continued to target him, Patole dared the BJP leader "to act on it rather than making plain threats to the Opposition leaders".

"The BJP government is already misusing the central investigating agencies like ED, CBI, IT-D to finish off political opponents… now Fadnavis is intimidating the Opposition leaders with some audio-video. As the home minister of the state, why doesn't he take action in the matter," Patole demanded.

He pointed out how a former Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ravindra Waikar -- who joined the ruling Shiv Sena just prior to the last Lok Sabha elections and was elected as Mumbai North West MP -- had openly said that he changed his party out of similar pressures and compulsions.

"Those who succumbed to such tactics have joined them, but others who fought them out had to go to jail, like Deshmukh. CM Eknath Shinde and his team are with the BJP owing to the fear of central probe agencies and the same may have been done with Deshmukh, who is now revealing these things," claimed Patole.

While Fadnavis talks nothing about the deteriorating law and order in the state, the drug mafias who are given a free hand, the massive corruption at all levels and other big problems, he is busy making political attacks and giving audio-video expose threats to browbeat the Opposition before the upcoming Assembly elections in October, which won't work, said Patole.

On Wednesday, the founder of Akhil Bharatiya Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, Prof Shyam Manav had made certain claims about the circumstances leading to Deshmukh spending 13 months in jail as he refused to compromise or betray the then MVA government led by ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray, evoking a sharp rebuttal from Fadnavis.