City Congress president Sanjay Nirupam on Friday wrote to Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao demanding the filing of a forgery case against State Cooperation Minister Subhash Deshmukh.
In the letter, Mr. Nirupam requested the Governor to instruct the Chief Minister to sack Mr. Deshmukh with immediate effect. Mr. Nirupam claimed that Mr. Deshmukh forged several documents to secure a sanction worth ₹24.81 crore from the Ministry of Agriculture under the National Agricultural Department Programme.
The amount was sanctioned to his firm Lokmangal Multistate Co-operative Society Ltd. for establishing a milk chilling and milk powder manufacturing plant in Solapur. Mr. Deshmukh, who is the Solapur (South) MLA, was the founder-chairman of the firm. After his induction into the Cabinet, he stepped down from the post and his son Rohan took control of the society.
On Friday, the Dairy Development Department cancelled the ₹24-crore contract granted to the society after a departmental report concluded that the allegations against Mr. Deshmukh were true. Mr. Nirupam said though the contract had been cancelled, the department’s order did not mention any punitive action being taken against him.
Mr. Nirupam said, “The Dairy Development Department and the State government must file a cheating case against Mr. Deshmukh. His fraudulent acts have now been exposed and the people of the State cannot trust him any more. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis must sack him with immediate effect. The people deserve a minister whom they can trust. Mr. Fadnavis cannot force on them a minister who is a proven cheater.”
Mr. Deshmukh’s society allegedly submitted forged and fabricated documents from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board in Pune and Solapur, the Industrial Security and Health Department in Solapur, the Food and Drug Administration in Solapur and the Deputy Divisional Engineer, Public Works Department, North Solapur. Mr. Deshmukh was not available for comment.
