BJP MLA quits party over Rafale corruption, warns Amit Shah of serious consequences in coming polls

Citing huge corruption in Rafale deal and blaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi for compromising national security, a BJP lawmaker from Maharashtra has quit the party.

Ashish Deshmukh – an MLA from Katol constituency in the Vidarbha region, also resigned from the Maharashtra state assembly on Wednesday.

Accusing Modi of “criminal misconduct,” Deshmukh shot off a letter to the BJP president Amit Shah in which he has reportedly expressed his grievances in details.

Talking to National Herlad over phone, Deshmukh said, “I had been raising issues related to farmers’ distress, unemployment and demonetisation disaster but nobody listened. BJP president Amit Shah kept mum. Central leadership maintained studied silence and the state leaders tried to suppress my voice.”

“Everyone in the BJP right from the PM to Defence Minister knew that the Reliance Defense Limited owner Anil Ambani has no experience of defense manufacturing. Despite that the deal was signed, why?” asked Deshmukh, adding that not only the Central government but the Maharashtra government also is a beneficiary of the “Rafale corruption”.

“Otherwise, why would Fadnavis government allot a prime piece of land to Anil Ambani without any scrutiny? Nothing except a sign board and a boundary wall stands at the MIHAN SEZ project site where Dassault-Reliance Aerospace Limited has been set up. No body knows what progress Ambani has made in establishing the defense manufacturing unit all this while. This should also be investigated,” he said.

Deshmukh had announced his decision to quit as MLA on Tuesday and submitted his resignation to the Assembly Speaker on Wednesday. Earlier, Deshmukh had a meeting with the Congress president Rahul Gandhi during his visit to Sevagram on October 2.

His resignation letter can be read here:

In his letter addressed to the BJP president Amit Shah, Deshmukh alleged that mega schemes such as Make in India, Magnetic Maharashtra (the BJP-led state government's investment summit) and Skill India had failed miserably.

“While farmers committed suicide, rate of unemployment increased, and schemes launched by the BJP governments showed no results on the ground,” said Deshmukh in his letter.

In his four-page letter, Deshmukh has slammed BJP government for not fulfilling its promise of the development in the Vidarbha region.“People of the Vidarbha region gave 44 assembly seats to the BJP out of 63 assembly seats, but after coming to power, BJP has conveniently forgotten its promise. People feel neglected,” the letter further read.

Ashish Deshmukh’s resignation from the Maharashtra Assembly has been accepted by the speaker, Haribhau Bagade. ‎