The entire scenario in Maharashtra is like playing a tug-of-war game. Sometimes BJP falls flat and most of the time MVA tumbles. BJP uses IT, ED, CBI, NAI and NCB to grip the ruling party leaders, the ruling party is using state police against the opposition. This entire saga took a brutal turn when the Income-tax investigation wing carried out searches on the premises of a leading cable broadband service provider and cable TV operator Sadanand Kadam, who is a brother of ex-Sena minister Ramdas Kadam. The income tax officials searched the head office of the cable-broadband service provider firm at Santacruz with which transport minister Anil Parab’s family-run company had business connections. The search mainly focused on business associates, firms and friends of Parab.
Among those raided was Rahul Kanal, a core committee member of the Sena’s youth wing. Kanal is a trustee of Shri Sai Baba Sansthan Trust, a member of BMC’s education committee, and associated with a Salman Khan-themed restaurant in Bandra. He is also a very close buddy of Aaditya Thackeray. I-T also raided a chartered accountant from Bandra, who was handling the accounts of the family business of transport minister Anil Parab.
They also raided deputy RTO Bajrang Kharmate; his name had cropped up during an ED probe into the police transfer scam. Deputy RTO Bajrang Kharmate, who was also raided, is not directly linked with Parab but works in the state transport ministry headed by him. Earlier, the ED had questioned Kharmate on an allegation by dismissed police officer Sachin Vaze that money was exchanging hands for postings in the police force. But the ED found nothing to validate Waze’s claims and connect Parab with Kharmate till the filing of the last chargesheet in the money laundering case connected to former state home minister Anil Deshmukh.
Vaze had claimed that in July 2020, then Mumbai chief Param Bir Singh had issued an order for the transfers and postings of about 10 deputy commissioners of police (DCPs) in one go, about which then home minister Anil Deshmukh and transport minister Anil Parab were not happy. They got the transfer order reversed by making handsome money from them.
One side IT and ED is working in full swing opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis rallied against the state government and was detained by the Mumbai police along with Pravin Darekar, Ashish Shelar, Girish Mahajan, Nitish Rane, Mangal Prabhat Lodha, and Niranjan Davkare. Fadnavis demanded Nawab Malik’s resignation. Fadnavis had been protesting in the past few days in the Maharashtra Legislative assembly demanding the resignation of NCP minister Nawab Malik who is currently in judicial custody till March 21 in relation to money laundering case involving gangster Dawood Ibrahim. Malik was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on February 23 after hours-long interrogation. The Ed Case is based on an FIR by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The ED has registered the case under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
Meanwhile, Devendra Fadnavis has accused the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government of hatching conspiracies to target its political opponents and misusing the police department. He also submitted a pen drive containing “proof” to Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal. He said the pen drive contained video proof of 125 hours showing how the MVA government, along with police officials, hatched conspiracies to frame BJP leaders, including himself, in false cases at the office of special public prosecutor Pravin Chavan.
Fadnavis alleged the video footage showed public prosecutor Chavan talking about meetings (held) at the highest level from the chief minister to the state DGP to the police commissioner to frame BJP leader Girish Mahajan under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) and arrest him. Sharing another video which he claimed was proof to show how former minister Girish Mahajan was framed, by planting a knife to apply blood to the neck… to how to conduct a raid on Girish Mahajan and how to plant evidence and ensure that MCOCA is applied.
Amid all this ruckus the It raid continued; Shiv Sena launched an offensive against the Enforcement Directorate (ED) by filing a complaint alleging extortion against the agency’s officials and one Jitendra Navlani. Jitendra Navlani’s seven companies received crores of rupees from different companies, days after the Enforcement Directorate raided them. The ED officials are involved in extorting money from companies after raiding them.
Sanjay Raut presented the papers claiming transactions of Navlani’s companies where they received money from Dewan Housing Finance Limited, Wadhawans of HDIL and Avinash Bhosle group of companies among others. All these transactions are right after ED raids. They have filed a complaint based on these papers with the Mumbai police against Navlani and four officials of the ED. The Sena leader pointed out that Maharashtra and West Bengal are two States which have seen the highest number of ED raids and all against those who are anti-BJP. Raut also presented the papers about the association of former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya’s son Neil Somaiya with the PMC bank scam accused Rakesh Wadhwan. Somaiya was complaining about Wadhawan till the time the latter made his son partner.
Raids by the Central agencies will continue till the time the Mumbai civic body elections are being held. They will raid each ward of Mumbai. The opposition will not sit quietly because they have already burnt their chances of coming to power. Devendra is a shrewd and smart politician, he is making very calculative moves to destabilise MVA, interesting is to see who would be the goalkeeper for the ruling government and how will they counter further attacks.
