Anil Deshmukh
Maharashtra: Anil Deshmukh becomes difficult for Uddhav Thackeray
After the explosive letter from former Mumbai Police Commissioner Parambir Singh, political analysts are beginning to risk the political career of Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh.
Parambir Singh has written a letter to the Chief Minister alleging that Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had given a target of extortion of hundred crores of rupees every month to the top police officers.
Anil Deshmukh, 70 years old, is one of the few leaders of Maharashtra politics who has succeeded in making his place in the government of every party.
Deshmukh has been a minister since 1995, barring the five-year tenure of the previous BJP government led by Devendra Fadnavis.
Then he supported the Shiv Sena BJP government and took the minister in return. Later, he parted ways and joined the Nationalist Congress Party.
How Anil Deshmukh became Home Minister in Uddhav government
Anil Deshmukh is considered close to Sharad Pawar, the head of the Nationalist Congress. Senior journalist Sudhir Suryavanshi says, "Anil Deshmukh does not take any decision without asking Sharad Pawar. That is why Sharad Pawar dominated the home ministry."
When Uddhav Thackeray formed a government after a grand alliance with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party, many ministerial posts went to the West Maharashtra leaders.
Anil Deshmukh comes from Vidarbha. Analysts believe that it was due to the expansion of the Nationalist Congress Party in this area that he was given the post of Home Minister.
Who is Anil Deshmukh?
Anil Deshmukh, who grew up in Nagpur, Maharashtra, stepped into politics in the 1970s. He first stepped into electoral politics with the election of the District Council in 1992. He had won the election of the district council. It was from here that he started making his mark in Maharashtra politics.
Due to his growing popularity, he sought a ticket from the Congress party in the year 1995, but when the party did not give the ticket, he fought and won as an independent candidate.
In 1995, he became the Minister of School Education Department and Cultural Department, supporting the coalition government of Shiv Sena BJP.
In 1999, when Sharad Pawar broke away from the Congress and formed the Nationalist Congress Party, Anil Deshmukh joined the party along with many big leaders of Maharashtra.In 1999, he won the elections for NCP tickets once again. After winning for the third time in 2004, he scored a hat trick of victory.
Anil Deshmukh has been a minister in every government of Maharashtra since 1995, except for the BJP-Shiv Sena government between 2014-2019. He has also handled school education, PWD, Excise Department and Ministry of Home Affairs.
Many decisions of Anil Deshmukh were discussed. He decided to broadcast the national anthem in theaters. He also banned eating gutkha in Maharashtra.
When he was PWD minister, it was completed by becoming a Bandra-Worli Sealink.
Deshmukh was also surrounded in controversies
Home minister Anil Deshmukh has also been implicated in the controversy over the investigation into a car full of explosives found near Antilia, the home of industrialist Mukesh Ambani in Mumbai.
The Opposition has repeatedly targeted the Home Minister, creating a ruckus on this issue in the House.
During the debate in the assembly, former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had raised the issue of death of car businessman Mansukh Hiren and linked it to police officer Sachin Vazhe. Vaje is now in NIA custody in this case.Fadnavis also informed about the last location of Mansukh in the assembly.
Senior journalist Sudhir Suryavanshi tells, "Fadnavis had the call detail rcords of Mansukh Hiren and Sachin Vajhe Ki Baat. But Anil Deshmukh did not have this information."
According to analysts, an experienced minister is needed to handle sensitive ministries like the Home Ministry. Deshmukh has not yet succeeded in handling any high profile case.
When the isue of Mansukh Hiren's death and explosives being found near Antilia was echoing in the Assembly, no leader of the ruling party came forward to help Anil Deshmukh. The Minister of State for Home also remained silent on this matter.
In addition to former Mumbai commissioner Parambir Singh, Maharashtra's most senior police officer Sanjay Pandey also expressed his displeasure by writing a letter to Anil Deshmukh and Uddhav Thackeray.
Pandey alleged that he was being ignored in the matter of being given the post. He wrote in his letter that by this time he should have been the police chief of the state but this did not happen.However, this is not the first time that a senior officer has targeted Deshmukh. In April 2020, Anand Kulkarni, chairman of Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission, also wrote a post against Deshmukh, posting on social media.In his post, he claimed that he has done homework on Deshmukh's previous works and he will make public the information collected at the right time.
Anil Deshmukh was also in the discussion with his statements. When TV anchor Arnab Goswami was clinging to the death of Goa architect Anvay Naik, he had said in the assembly that former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had suppressed the case during his tenure.Anil Deshmukh transferred ten DCP rank officers after assuming the post of Home Minister. According to local media reports, he did not consult the state Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray before transferring it. Uddhav Thackeray also stopped these transfers for this reason. Since this incident, Anil Deshmukh has remained in the headlines in the media of Maharashtra.When Maharashtra was engulfed in the corona epidemic, Anil Deshmukh advised the policemen to apply oil in their sticks. There was a lot of controversy on this statement too.
Personal Information | |
|---|---|
| Name | Anil Vasantrao Deshmukh |
| BirthDay | 9 May 1950 |
| Birth Place | Nagpur, Maharashtra, India |
| Sons | 2 |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Occupation | Minister of state for Eudation and Culture |
| Age | 70 |
| Role | Politic |
