Anil Deshmukh is facing allegations of corruption by former Mumbai Police chief Param Bir Singh (File)
Anil Deshmukh is not an "accidental home minister" of Maharashtra and if shortcomings have been brought forward in Shiv Sena's mouthpiece "Saamana", then, it should be taken in a positive manner, said Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nawab Malik on Sunday.
"Anil Deshmukh ji has been an MLA five times and held the office of a state minister for 18 years. Pawar Saheb (NCP chief) must have given him the responsibilities after thinking carefully. He is not an accidental home minister," Nawab Malik told news agency ANI.
The remarks by Nawab Malik came after the Shiv Sena editorial said that Anil Deshmukh accidentally got the post of the Home Minister as Jayant Patil and Dilip Walse Patil had refused to accept the post.
"If shortcomings have been brought forward in an editorial (Saamana), then, it should be taken in a positive manner. I think the Home Minister will work towards overcoming those shortcomings," Nawab Malik added.
"There should have been strictness in handling the Department (police) as some officers were acting as per their own will," the NCP leader said.
The editorial said that Sharad Pawar handed over the post of Home Minister to Anil Deshmukh.
"Sharad Pawar handed over this post to Deshmukh. This post has dignity and status. Raosaheb Ramrao Patil's work as the Home Minister is appreciated even today. No person sitting on the post of Home Minister of the state can work by being surrounded by a suspect," read the editorial.
Anil Deshmukh is facing allegations of corruption by former Mumbai Police chief Param Bir Singh.
On March 25, Anil Deshmukh had written a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to investigate the corrupt malpractices allegations levelled against him by former Mumbai Police chief Param Bir Singh.
Param Bir Singh had written a letter to Uddhav Thackeray alleging Anil Deshmukh had indulged in "malpractices" and asked suspended Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Waze to collect Rs 100 crore every month.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)