Maha Vikas Aghadi a ‘vasooli’ govt; lost moral authority to govern says BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad

THE BJP on Tuesday attacked the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra, and said the Uddhav Thackeray-led government had lost the “moral authority” to govern. Union Minister and senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said the state government is running on “extortion.”

Citing former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh’s allegations against Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, Prasad said during a press conference here that it was the “first time in the country’s history” that a police commissioner had levelled a corruption charge against a sitting Home Minister.

Singh has approached the Supreme Court against the state government’s order transferring him. The drama unfolded weeks after an explosives-laden SUV was found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence. Days later, the owner of the vehicle was found dead in a creek. One of Mumbai Police’s most high profile policemen, Sachin Waze, has been named as an accused in the case.

At Tuesday’s press conference, Prasad said the MVA government was headlined by “vasooli (extortion)”. “When the target of one minister is Rs 100 crore, how much would it be of the remaining ministers? …A khela is happening in Bengal, but in Maharashtra too. What’s happening in the state is not vikas (development), it is vasooli,” Prasad said.