National Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Monday reiterated his claim that Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh was admitted to the hospital in the time period on which former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh has raised allegations on Deshmukh's meeting with the Mumbai police officials.
Addressing a press conference in Mumbai Pawar said, "From February 5 to 15, Mr Deshmukh was admitted to the hospital because of coronavirus."
He then read an official document from a hospital in Nagpur that said that Deshmukh was in hospital in the said period.
When asked about Bharatiya Janata Party's demand for Deshmukh's resignation, Pawar said, "It is clear that during the period about which the allegations were made, Anil Deshmukh was hospitalised. As this is clear, such demands calling for his resignation hold no power."
Over BJP leader Amit Malviya's tweet that Deshmukh was holding a press conference on February 15, the NCP chief said, "I made my claims based on the documents I have."
Singh on Saturday wrote a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, alleging that Deshmukh had indulged in "malpractices" and asked suspended API Sachin Waze to collect Rs 100 crore every month.
The allegations made by Singh came a day after Deshmukh had said that Singh was moved out as Mumbai Police Commissioner so that cases pertaining to Waze were probed without obstruction.
In the letter, Singh, who has now been posted as Commandant General of Home Guards, had said that he has been "made a scapegoat to divert attention from the actual wrongdoers".
He had alleged that Sachin Waze, who was heading the Crime Intelligence Unit of the Crime Branch of the Mumbai Police, was called by Deshmukh to his official residence several times in the last few months and "repeatedly instructed to assist in the collection of funds".
