Zeeshan Kaskar 
Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh in his autobiographical book Diary of a Home Minister has levelled serious allegations of blackmailing at Bharatiya Janata Party leader and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.
The former Maharashtra chief minister had allegedly asked Deshmukh to falsely implicate Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray faction) leader Aaditya Thackeray in the “rape and murder” of Disha Salian, the former manager of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, among other things.
Salian allegedly died by suicide and her post-mortem report said there was no evidence of sexual assault. Some have claimed that she was raped and murdered.
According to the book, the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar faction) leader was asked to draft an affidavit incorporating four specific “fabricated claim(s)”: Uddhav Thackeray’s involvement in an alleged Rs 300-crore scam, Ajit Pawar’s son Parth’s involvement in an alleged extortion scandal, Aaditya’s involvement in Salian’s alleged “rape and murder” and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Anil Parab’s involvement in a resort ownership scam.
Sharad Pawar was quoted as saying that had Deshmukh signed the affidavit, the “Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance government would have toppled the next day”.
Deshmukh first made the allegations in July this year.
Timeline of events
According to an excerpt released by Deshmukh from a chapter in his book titled “Affidavit, a Weapon”, the story began in April 2022 when an undivided Shiv Sena and NCP were in alliance with the Congress in Maharashtra. Deshmukh, a senior leader from the Vidarbha region, was home minister.
In April 2022, Deshmukh said that a man named Samit Kadam visited him at his residence, Gyaneshwari Bungalow. Kadam is the state president of the Jan Surajya Yuva Shakti Party. His social media posts indicate his affinity with the BJP and its leaders, especially Fadnavis.
Deshmukh claimed that Kadam came to his residence on behalf of Fadnavis. “I decided to call Devendra Fadnavis myself. I had just picked up my phone to call when Samit Kadam stopped me and said, ‘You don’t call him. I will make you speak to Devendra Fadnavis’.
“It seemed likely that Devendra Fadnavis did not want to discuss whatever he wanted to, using my phone, perhaps out of fear that my phone might be getting tapped or I might record this conversation,” read the excerpt.
In the following paragraphs, Deshmukh claimed that Fadnavis spoke with him using Kadam’s phone. Kadam allegedly visited Deshmukh four times on different occasions and each time, Fadnavis would allegedly threaten Deshmukh of using the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against him.
“This method of political blackmailing was invented in 2014, and its command was in the hands of the BJP,” Deshmukh wrote.
Further, he wrote that Kadam in their next meeting handed over a brown sealed envelope to him. On behalf of Fadnavis, Kadam allegedly asked Deshmukh to draft an affidavit – a legal document – incorporating four “fabricated claim(s)”. Deshmukh alleged that:
- There was an attempt to force him to falsely claim that former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray asked him to collect Rs 300 crore for funding the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections.
- He was pressured to lie in the affidavit, implicating Aaditya Thackeray in Salian’s death – which the affidavit portrayed as a rape and murder – and alleging he was involved in her death after a party.
- He was told to fabricate a claim that deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and his son wanted his help in extorting funds from the tobacco industry.
- He was asked to falsely state that Parab invested in a Dapoli resort under another person’s name and sought his help in case of any complaints.
Deshmukh also claimed that Fadnavis offered to drop the point regarding Ajit Pawar’s son, but that he resisted drafting any of the four points in the affidavit.
“The moment I refused the offer of their affidavit, the next day, ED conducted raids at 8 different locations, including properties owned by me and properties of people connected to me,” Deshmukh wrote.
“They once formed a government with the Shiv Sena and the Thackeray family, but now they are assassinating the character of the heir of that very family … What a horrible man Devendra Fadnavis is.”
Allegations against Deshmukh
The ED is investigating Deshmukh for money laundering. It alleges that Deshmukh collected around Rs 4.7 crore from Mumbai bar owners through ex-police officer Sachin Waze, who is currently in jail in the Antilia bomb scare case and the Mansukh Hiran murder case. He was given bail in the corruption case involving Deshmukh.
Around Rs 4.18 crore of the alleged bribes were funnelled into Delhi-based shell companies, which later donated the sum to the Shri Sai Shikshan Sansthan Trust, which is managed by Deshmukh and his family, as per the ED.
Apart from the ED case, Deshmukh faces CBI and Income Tax department probes into allegations of corruption, extortion and tax evasion.
He was jailed in the ED case against him in November 2021 and was released on bail a little over a year later.
Fadnavis did not deny any of the allegations made by the former home minister, but responded by saying that he possessed recordings of Deshmukh in which he spoke against Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray. But Deshmukh claimed that he was telling the truth and had proof in a pen drive, and asked whether Fadnavis could provide proof for his allegations.
Deshmukh was offered a ticket from the Katol assembly constituency for the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections but declined it. Now, his son Salil Deshmukh is contesting on an NCP (SP) ticket from Katol.