The Maharashtra government is currently in a rift after former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh accused state home minister Anil Deshmukh of extortion.

On Saturday, the Shiv Sena, which heads the alliance in the state, hinted that Deshmukh’s position may be safe for the time being, however, both Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and NCP chief Sharad Pawar have agreed on a need to probe the allegations, reported NDTV.

Here are the latest development in the case:

Singh on Monday, moved Supreme Court seeking a CBI probe into the extortion allegations against Deshmukh, reported Time of India.

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut questioned the demand for Deshmukh’s resignation stating that both the Shive Sena and the NCP is calling for a probe into the allegations before taking any steps. He told ANI, “HM (Anil Deshmukh) said that the contents of ‘letter bomb’ should be probed, CM should probe it. NCP chief said that it should be investigated. If the govt is ready to accept the challenge of probing this, then why is the issue of resignation being raised repeatedly?”

Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik said that Deshmukh was on Vidarbha tour from Feb 1-5 . He then tested COVID19 positive on Feb 15 and did not meet anyone till February 28.

Pawar too said that in his letter, Singh had mentioned that Deshmukh gave the alleged instructions for extortion in mid-February but during that time, the minister was admitted in a hospital after testing COVID-19 positive, according to ANI.

The BJP  demanded resignation of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government headed by Thackeray during Zero Hour in Lok Sabha. Shiv Sena, however, claimed that the BJP has been hatching a conspiracy to defame the Shiv Sena-Congress-NCP dispensation for the last 14 months so that a BJP government can be installed in Mumbai, reported PTI.