Amid the ongoing feud between Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and NCP (SCP) leader Anil Deshmukh, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Monday criticized Fadnavis and demanded the public release of the Chandiwal Commission report.
Speaking at a press conference, Raut highlighted the issues surrounding the Lok Sabha elections and criticized Fadnavis for relying on individuals accused of serious crimes. He stressed that Maharashtra no longer takes Fadnavis’s statements seriously and accused him of being caught in a “chakravyuh” (complex situation). Raut insisted that the Maharashtra government is making excuses to avoid disclosing the Chandiwal Commission report, which he claims contains explosive information.
Raut pointed out that the report, submitted after an 11-month inquiry, spans 1400 pages and should be made public immediately. He accused Fadnavis of trying to distract from the report’s findings by breaking Shiv Sena MLAs and causing the government to fall.
Earlier, Anil Deshmukh had also called for the release of the report, accusing Fadnavis of using Parambir Singh to falsely implicate him in a corruption case to topple the government. Deshmukh claimed that Singh, to avoid arrest, accused him under Fadnavis’s direction.
The Chandiwal Commission was established to investigate allegations by former Mumbai police commissioner Parambir Singh, who claimed Deshmukh instructed police officials to collect Rs 100 crore per month from bar owners. Sachin Waze, a dismissed Mumbai Assistant Police Inspector and an accused in the 2021 Antilia bomb scare and Mansukh Hiren murder case, also alleged that Deshmukh took bribes.
Deshmukh, arrested in 2021 in a money laundering case, spent several months in jail. The CBI had filed a corruption case against him, following allegations that he directed police officials to collect monthly bribes from bar owners. Deshmukh has since secured bail.