The Shiv Sena on Monday said the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra enjoyed a “good majority” and would not fall because of the misgivings about “one official”, PTI reported. The party, however, admitted that the corruption allegations against Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had “maligned the image” of the home department.

Trouble started for the coalition government of the Shiv Sena, Congress, and the Nationalist Congress Party last week after former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh accused Deshmukh of extorting money from bars, restaurants and hookah parlours in the city. The former police chief wrote that suspended Crime Branch officer Sachin Vaze told him that the minister had asked him to collect Rs 100 crore every month through illegal channels. He levelled the allegations in a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, days after being removed from his post.

Waze was sent to the custody of the National Investigation Agency on March 15 for his alleged role in placing an explosives- laden vehicle outside the south Mumbai residence of industrialist Mukesh Ambani last month. Two days later, Singh, who was handling the investigation, was transferred from his position to the low-key Home Guard department by the state government.

Deshmukh rubbished the allegations levelled against him by Singh, alleging that the police officer was trying to cover up after mishandling the Ambani case, but his Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar said the charges against him were serious. The matter has also become a cause of friction within the ruling alliance, which is scheduled to meet on Monday evening to take a decision on Deshmukh.

In an editorial published in its mouthpiece Saamana on Monday, the Shiv Sena said it has now become a “matter of prestige” for its government. “The MVA enjoys a good majority even today,” it said. “The Opposition should not forget that governments are not formed and don’t fall because of one official.”

The party, however, seemed wary of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s intentions, warning that “a fire will erupt” if the BJP tried to use this controversy to undermine the majority of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government. “This is not a warning, but a fact,” the Shiv Sena added.

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Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Sunday had called for an inquiry by an “outside agency” into the controversy.

The Shiv Sena said that after seeking Singh’s suspension over the investigation into the bomb scare outside Ambani’s house, the BJP had now made the former police chief “the darling” of its party, and was targeting the Maharashtra government “by keeping the gun on his shoulder”, according to PTI.

“It seems to be the goal of the BJP to impose President’s rule in Maharashtra by contending that law and order situation is not right,” the Shiv Sena said. “For this, new pawns are being created. It is clear, Singh is being used in that manner.”

“The hue and cry being generated by the BJP over Singh’s letter seems to be part of a conspiracy,” the party added, noting that Singh’s explosive letter came close on the heels of Opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi last week.

The Sena alleged that the BJP was using Singh to defame the state government. “Reacting to Singh’s letter, Deshmukh on Saturday said that Singh was raising such accusations to save his skin in police officer Sachin Waze,” it said. “If this is true, then the BJP is using Singh to defame the Maharashtra government.”

The party alleged that it was the BJP’s policy to not only defame the government, but to cause trouble in its functioning. “The Opposition party has been making the extreme use of Central probe agencies in Maharashtra,” the Shiv Sena said. “It seems the Centre may send CBI [Central Bureau of Investigation] or NIA [National Investigation Agency] in the state even if four hens and two crows die due to electric shock somewhere.”