MUMBAI: A police complaint against Anil Deshmukh landed on Monday. By Tuesday, the former home minister had turned it around on the deputy chief minister.
Senior NCP (SP) leader Deshmukh accused deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde of acting under the BJP's pressure. The complaint, filed by a man named Pankaj Farkande, alleged that Deshmukh had received ₹4 crore as extortion money in 2020.
Deshmukh rejected the charge and claimed Farkande was being used as a "pawn" at Shinde's instance. "The entire episode is fabricated, with the complaint surfacing just before the winter session," he said in a video statement.
The complaint came on Monday; Deshmukh responded a day later. Rather than answer the extortion allegation point by point, he framed the case as a political move, naming the deputy chief minister and pointing to what he called pressure from the BJP.
Deshmukh is a former home minister and a senior leader of the NCP (SP); Shinde is the deputy chief minister as well as the Shiv Sena chief. The complaint names Deshmukh in a 2020 extortion allegation, and his response turns it back on the deputy chief minister.
With the winter session of the state legislature approaching, the charge sets up a fresh round between the NCP (SP) leader and the deputy chief minister.