Maha Congress demands resignation of Fadnavis over phone tapping episode

Maharashtra Congress president and MLA Nana Patole on Thursday demanded the resignation of Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis who also holds the Home portfolio for shielding culprits in an alleged phone tapping caseTalking to reporters in Nagpur which is hosting the winter session of the state legislature Patole maintained the Opposition will consider moving a no confidence motion against Assembly speaker Rahul Narvekar if he continues to behave in a biased mannerWhy is the government backing the culprits in the phone tapping case the Congress legislator askedPatole said in 201617 when the state was under the Fadnavisled Bharatiya Janata Party BJP dispensation phones of public representatives government officials and journalists were illegally tappedCases were also registered against IPS officer Rashmi Shukla in this regard he saidShukla headed the Maharashtra State Intelligence Department and also served as the Pune police commissioner during her tenure in the state The IPS officer is now on central deputation serving as additional director general of the Central Reserve Police Force CRPF in HyderabadBut the present government Eknath ShindeBharatiya Janata Party dispensation is trying to give her a clean chit when an inquiry committee has also found her guilty This episode is from the time when Fadnavis was the Chief Minister and Home Minister and he is still the Home Minister Patole saidAlso read Parliament panel raises concerns over missed targets in electric locomotives productionNotably a Pune court has directed local police to investigate further the alleged phone tapping case against Shukla after the police filed a closure report citing lack of evidence Patole demanded the resignation of Fadnavis and accused the Eknath ShindeBJP government of trying to suppress the phone tapping caseThe Congress MLA claimed phones of public representatives journalists and government officials were tapped by giving them different namesThis is an attack on our individual liberties When Fadnavis was the Home Minister in BJP government he allowed blackmailing During the tenure of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government November 2019June 2022 cases were registered against IPS officer Rashmi Shukla and she was investigatedShukla has also admitted that she was wrong but as soon as this government assumed office in June 2022 attempts were made to suppress the phone tapping case Patole allegedThe Pune police filed a closure report in a court but the court pointed out that there was a need for further investigation in the phone tapping case Why is the government supporting these criminals when phone tapping is a serious crime When Fadnavis was the CM 201419 he started giving clean chits in cases where serious complaints were made and he continues to do that even now he saidThe Opposition wanted a discussion on the phone tapping issue in the Assembly but this was not allowed by the Chair said Patole a former Assembly SpeakerIn the House today Thursday we demanded to discuss the phone tapping case but the Speaker did not allow us to speak The government is trying to gag the opposition It is the Speakers job to protect the members of the House but our rights are not being protected he saidThe Speaker should not be biased and must conduct House proceedings according to established rules Patole saidSo we boycotted the House proceedings If the Speaker continues to behave in a biased manner we will consider moving a noconfidence motion against him he cautionedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever