Resignation not enough, dismiss Maharashtra Govt, says Sena UBT leader Aaditya Thackeray after Dhananjay Munde steps down

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 4 (ANI): Shiv Sena UBT leader Aaditya Thackeray on Tuesday said that the resignation of Dhananjay Munde as Maharashtra Minister is not enough and that the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis-led government should be dismissed claiming that the law and order has deteriorated in the state over the past few years.

Earlier today, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA, Munde submitted his resignation earlier today, which was accepted by Fadnavis who forwarded it to the Governor for further action.

The development follows after Munde’s close aide, Walmik Karad, was sent to judicial custody in January this year in a Rs 2 crore extortion case allegedly linked to the murder case of Beed district sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh.

Addressing mediapersons here, Thackeray said, “Mere resignation is not enough. This government should be dismissed. In the past two and a half, three years, law and order in Maharashtra has deteriorated. Sometimes a woman is raped … what kind of law and order and system is this? If no action is taken and the government is not dismissed, then who would like to invest in Maharashtra? Neither women nor men are safe in this State. This is a matter of all residents of the State and not just one person.”

Reiterating his demands, the Sena UBT leader further demanded the public hanging of the prime accused in the case of the murder of Beed district sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh.

“A resignation won’t work, chargesheet should be amended, case should be in fast track court and the most important thing is that the prime accused who committed the crime, should be hanged publicly,” Aaditya Thackeray said.

Speaking on the resignation, Maharashtra CM Fadnavis said, “Maharashtra Minister Dhananjay Munde has tendered his resignation today. I have accepted the resignation and sent it to the Governor for further course of action.”

According to sources, Fadnavis had asked Munde to step down from his post.

Reacting to the resignation, Priyanka Chaturvedi said that the Maharashtra government had been protecting and defending Munde for a long time. “High time. Shame that Munde was allowed to continue, was defended, was protected by the government till date. Truth can’t be hidden, and yesterday, with the images emerging of the way Santosh Deshmukh was murdered, it was people’s outrage that forced government hand,” she posted on X.

Congress leader Saran Patel on X, posting a purported report related to the murder incident, of Santosh Deshmukh claimed, “Beed Sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh’s brutal murder has shocked Maharashtra. The accused recorded a video of the entire incident and even urinated on his half-dead body. The mastermind behind this murder, Walmik Karad, is a business partner and close aide of Maharashtra government’s minister Dhananjay Munde. Devendra Fadnavis has still not demanded the minister’s resignation, and even the media is not seeking accountability — for them, Rohit Sharma seems to be a matter of greater concern,”

Earlier in January, Chief Minister Fadnavis asserted that no accused in the Beed sarpanch murder case would be spared, underlining that he does not wish to engage in the politics surrounding the matter.

Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed district of Maharashtra, was murdered on December 9 after he allegedly opposed an extortion attempt targeting an energy firm installing windmills in the village.