Constituents of Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi alliance to hold series of meetings , decision on Anil Deshmukh expected

On Sunday, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said the charges against Deshmukh were grave and it is the prerogative of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to fire him while adding that he would speak to his party leaders and speak to Thackeray. He also maintained that the development will have no effect on the MVA government.

Shiv Sena, on the other hand, has said that the charges of corruption has maligned the MVA government's image.

Sena leader Sajay Raut told the media on Sunday that such allegations on a minister of cabinet rank were shocking

He added that the constituents of the alliance have to sit and think how they can clean the image of the government.

Congress, too, said the incident has cast a shadow on the MVA government and party leader Sanjay Nirupam averred that the party must take a stand on the issue.

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis demanded the resignation of state home minister Anil Deshmukh over the accusations by former Mumbai police chief Param Bir Singh that the ruling party minister set a target of collecting Rs 100 crore every month.

Soon after Param Bir Singh's letter surfaced, Fadnavis held a press conference.

"We demand the Home Minister's resignation. If he doesn't , then the Chief Minister must remove him. An impartial probe must be conducted. The letter also says the Chief Minister was informed about this earlier, so why didn't he act on it?" he told the reporters.

BJP and Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) have been holding demonstrations in  multiple locations to pressurise the government to sack Anil Deshmukh.

Shiv Sena and NCP have been blaming each other for mishandling of the Ambani security scare case which became raised more eyebrows by the day with the discovery of the body of Mansukh Hiran in a creek in Thane--first registered as an accidental death, then murder and then arrest of Sachin Vaze on March 15 after the series of disclosures made by Fadnavis in the assembly.

Reports said Param Bir Singh was removed and transferred to low-key Home Guard on the insistence of NCP.

The rift in the Maharashtra's ruling Mahavikas Aghadi government was exposed yesterday when former Mumbai Police chief Pram Bir Singh in a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray made explosive corruption allegations against NCP leader and state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, including his target to collect Rs 100 crore a month and using police officials for the purpose.

The day before, Shiv Sena, in its mouthpiece Saamna, had accused its ally turned bitter rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of having a role in the removal of Param Bir Singh from the post of Mumbai Police Commissioner. It had slammed the BJP for raising a hue and cry over the death of Hiren Mansukh, the owner of explosives-laden SUV found near Reliance chief Mukesh Ambani's house, and using it to gain political ground and questioned the NIA investigation in the case, claiming that there was no terrorist angle in the incident.

The party had come in support of Param Bir Singh, who, according to Deshmukh, was replaced for "unforgiveable" lapses revealed in the investigation of Ambani security scare case

News reports had said Singh's ouster had strained the relationship between NCP and Shiv Sena, the two main constituents of the ruling coalition of Maharashtra.

While claiming innocence against the grave corruption charges in Singh's letter, Deshmukh, too, had directed at the conspiracy angle, saying it was an attempt to taint Maharashtra's coalition government.

Even as both Shiv Sena and NCP try to cover up the growing differences between them by accusing the opposition (BJP), the article in Saamna reveals that Sena was unhappy over the ouster of Singh, who it lauded for keeping  Mumbai Police's morale up even during trying situations like the investigation of actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death while being under attack from actress Kangana Ranaut.

It also said the TRP scam, in which Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami was investigated, surfaced under Singh and its probe by Mumbai Police drew the ire of a powerful lobby in Delhi (BJP-led NDA government at the Centre).