NAGPUR: Home minister
Anil Deshmukh, who is being targeted by BJP, over the Wadhawan controversy may land further into trouble in future.
Anand Kulkarni, chairman of
Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC), has threatened to 'expose the good deeds’ of Deshmukh and BJP leader Ganesh Naik, who was earlier with NCP, as soon as the coronavirus threat subsides.
Kulkarni posted in his Facebook page on Friday morning about Deshmukh and Naik. His post is full of sarcasm and he has called the two leaders ‘honest’ and ‘law abiding’.
As per the MERC chief, Naik in 2014 had summoned IAS officer
Shailesh Sharma to a tony hotel in Colaba in MMumbai and ‘Imbibed softly and affectionately the virtues of adhering to rules, acts and laws’. Kulkarni has claimed that he has detailed documentation of Naik’s land dealings in City and
Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO).
In another post, the MERC chairman targeted Deshmukh. "All his acts were governed by high ethical and moral standards. Highlights of his decade long tenure were his transparent, speedy and straightforward handling of two areas: (1) Allotment of molasses to concerned stakeholders (2) Transfers of excise department officers. I have compiled documents of these honest activities and other areas. These include comments of the judiciary on his all-round ethos."
"I am now waiting to disseminate my work into public domain for all and one to see his (Deshmukh’s) lofty achievements. I have painstakingly done homework on the noble activities of Honorable Shri Deshmukh. At an appropriate time I intend to make my findings public," the post further reads.
When contacted, Kulkarni claimed that he had not levelled any allegation but merely issued a statement. “After this coronavirus pandemic is over I will highlight the good deeds of Deshmukh and Naik. I did not issue this statement for any special reason. I am a citizen of a free country so I can say what I want,” he told TOI.
TOI had sent the screenshot of Kulkarni’s Facebook page to Deshmukh and his personal assistant Yogesh Kothekar. When TOI contacted the minister he said that he had not gone through it. Later he refused to take any calls.
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In June 2016, Kulkarni had levelled allegations against the then finance minister Jayant Patil accusing him of causing a loss of hundreds of crore rupees by allowing sale of online single-digit lotteries, which was a violation of central government rules. This was also done through a Facebook post. At that time he was not the MERC chairman but a retired IAS officer.