BJP holds protests in Maharashtra demanding resignation of state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh

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Mumbai: Bharatiya Janata Party leaders and workers on Sunday (March 21) staged protests in various cities demanding resignation of Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh in view of allegations of corruption levelled against him by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh.

The protests were led by state unit BJP president Chandrakant Patil in Pune and Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis in Nagpur, reported news agency PTI.

Altogether, demonstrations were held at more than 200 locations including in all district headquarters like Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Sangli, Satara, Kolhapur, Nagpur, Amravati, Jalgaon, Ahmednagar, Nashik, Aurangabad etc, and at various district headquarters and taluka places. 

At many places, BJP activists courted arrest. MLAs of BJP, senior functionaries and workers participated in these demonstrations.

"The MVA government is creating a 'tamasha' of our beloved Maharashtra. We have launched a strong protest demanding that the home minister step down immediately (sic)," Patil said in a statement.

Days after he was shunted as Mumbai police chief, Singh wrote a letter to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray claiming that Deshmukh, a senior NCP leader, had asked Sachin Waze who is currently in the NIA custody, and other police officers to collect Rs 100 crore monthly from bars and hotels in Mumbai.

Deshmukh had dismissed allegations raised by Singh as baseless and termed them as a bid by the IPS officer to save himself from inquiry.