"Let's fight unitedly": Uddhav Thackeray on Sachin Vaze, Param Bir Singh controversy

On the wake of the Sachin Vaze and Parambir Singh controversy, the Maharashtra Cabinet held their meeting in Mumbai. Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, who is accused of corruption and whose resignation has been demanded by the opposition was also part of the meeting. Mr Deshmukh has also been accused - by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh - of running an extortion racket with the help of other cops including Sachin Waze, the officer arrested in the Mukesh Ambani bomb scare case. They were allegedly given a target of ₹ 100 crore per month. Mr Deshmukh has, so far, been staunchly defended by his party - the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which is part of the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi that is in power in the state.

As per ABP Majha report, the Chief Minister urged everyone to support each and stay united in this hour of crisis. It said that Home Minister, Anil Deshmukh presented his case in the Cabinet Meeting claiming innocence in the entire case. Earlier today, Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis and other BJP leaders met Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and questioned Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's "silence" on various issues. The BJP delegation also asked the Governor to seek a status report from the MVA government. "The chief minister will speak at the right time. He need not speak on every issue...He will speak at the appropriate time. BJP's allegations are baseless," Maharashtra Minority Affairs Minister Nawab Malik told news agency PTI. Taking a jibe, the NCP spokesperson added that the BP leaders must understand that President's Rule cannot be imposed in a state "just like that". He also claimed that the MVA (comprising the Shiv Sena, Congress and the NCP) enjoys the support of more than 175 MLAs. The Maharashtra Assembly has 288 MLAs. The Maharashtra minister added that people of the state have begun to realise that the BJP is involved in a plot to malign the state government by peddling "half-baked information". Malik accused the BJP of adopting a strategy with the help of which it is attempting to leave people baffled by claiming that the Maharashtra government will not last long.