"Some BJP leaders looking to join our side,": NCP-SCP leader Anil Deshmukh

Mumbai: Former Home Minister of Maharashtra and NCP-SCP leader, Anil Deshmukh on Monday claimed that some senior BJP leaders are in contact with his party and are looking to join their side as they are dissatisfied with the government's handling of issues in the state.
Deshmukh told ANI that the Mahayuti Alliance is not as strong as it should be.
"Some senior BJP leaders are looking to join our side because they are dissatisfied with the government's handling of issues like unemployment, inflation, and farmers' distress in Maharashtra. The alliance between Ajit Pawar, Eknath Shinde, and the BJP is not as strong as it should be, and if this continues, the BJP might end up contesting the elections separately from NCP and Shiv Sena," he said.
Further, expressing concern and targeting Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis over the law and order situation, Anil Deshmukh said that instead of focusing on this, the latter indulged in breaking opposition parties.
"Whenever an incident like Badlapur takes place, people are outraged that the culprit should be sentenced as quickly as possible. Today, there is no provision for punishment in the law. For that, when I was the Home Minister, we had made a 'Shakti Kanoon'. Under it, we had made provision for punishment in such incidents within 24 hours. At that time, we got it approved by the Cabinet, got it passed by Vidhan Sabha and Vidhan Parishad and finally sent it to the Central Government. But this law of ours has been lying there for three years," he said.
He also mentioned that he had written a letter to Fadnavis, urging him to push for the implementation of this law, as the central government aligns with Fadnavis' political views.
"But Fadnavis, instead of focusing on this important legislation, is preoccupied with political infighting and breaking opposition parties," he said.
The NCP-SCP leader, further accused the government of misusing agencies like the ED and Income Tax Department against leaders who speak out against them.
To awaken the central government from its inaction, Deshmukh announced that his party's female leaders along with others, would protest against the government on Tuesday, wearing black armbands.
Lastly, he pointed out that there is an effort to forcibly provide Z+ security to Sharad Pawar to keep CRPF personnel around him constantly and monitor his every activity.
"This was a joint effort by the central and state governments, but Sharad Pawar has clearly refused this arrangement," Anil Deshmukh said.