Key Points:
- On Monday, NCP chief Sharad Pawar met Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray at his official residence and discussed Waze’s arrest and the police’s handling of the bomb scare episode outside Ambani’s Antilia.
- Maharashtra’s top ministers also met at Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s home where Covid-19 surge in the state was one major issue and Sachin Vaze was another hot topic of the meeting.
- Assumptions of replacing Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh and home minister Anil Deshmukh have been spread but NCP’s Maharashtra unit chief and Irrigation Minister Jayant Patil dismissed them as rumours.
On Monday, NCP chief Sharad Pawar met Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray at his official residence, Varsha, in Mumbai. Sena sources told Indian Express that the two discussed Waze’s arrest and the police’s handling of the bomb scare incident outside Mukesh Ambani’s residence.
The NCP chief, who later held a marathon meeting with ministers from his party and senior leaders, has reportedly told the state leadership to take immediate corrective measures.
Maharashtra’s top ministers also met at Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s home amidst the Ambani’s Antilia bomb-threat case that alleges Police Officer Sachin Vaze as one of the culprits and is being currently investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and other ministers including Eknath Shinde, Balasaheb Thorat, Anil Parab and Jayant Patil were part of the meeting.
Covid-19 surge in the state was one major issue that was discussed and Sachin Vaze was another hot topic of the meeting. The opposition has accused the state government of shielding the Assistant Inspector, who was once in Mr Thackeray’s Shiv Sena. According to the MVA leaders, Pawar and Thackeray discussed a strategy to find the way out from the crisis.
“Sharad Pawar was not happy with the way the Sachin Vaze case was handled by the MVA government and lack of efforts put in to control the damage. He is said to have expressed his displeasure over the attempt made by the chief minister and home department to shield the controversial police officer despite his role in the bomb scare case coming to the fore,” told an NCP leader aware of the developments to HT.
Assumptions of replacing Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh and home minister Anil Deshmukh have been spread but NCP’s Maharashtra unit chief and Irrigation Minister Jayant Patil dismissed them as rumours. “These are just rumours as there is no such proposal of change in the leadership of the home department. Pawar saheb met the CM to discuss various issues related to the people of the state. It was just one of the routine meetings that took place between them,” Patil said.
