Political drama in Maharashtra is not over yet. Shiv Sena MLA Nitin Deshmukh (Balapur constituency in the Akola district of Maharashtra) who returned to Maharashtra from Guwahati on 22nd June 2022 narrated his so-called journey in the press conference with Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut. Deshmukh had claimed that he was abducted to Surat and then to Guwahati, and he somehow managed to escape to Nagpur on a chartered plane. However, within hours of him claiming a forcible abduction by Eknath Shinde camp, the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs in Guwahati have shared Nitin Deshmukh’s happy visuals with them. In these photos and videos, Nitin Deshmukh does not seem to be unhappy or pressurized, but he is rather appearing happy.
#MaharashtraPoliticalCrisis | After allegations of Shiv Sena MLA Nitin Deshmukh that he was forcibly taken to Surat, rebel leader Eknath Shinde camp releases earlier pictures of Nitin Deshmukh with other rebel MLAs pic.twitter.com/VQ6lWuP8cY
— ANI (@ANI) June 23, 2022
In the photographs, Nitin Deshmukh can be seen inside and outside the chartered plane, and he certainly does not look like ‘abducted’, and looks like a free man instead who was travelling with the rebel camp on his on will.
Nitin Deshmukh had levelled several allegations against Eknath Shinde, the Shiv Sena rebel MLAs who are with him, Bharatiya Janata Party, and Gujarat police while narrating his self-proclaimed great escape. Nitin Deshmukh said that he was forcibly taken by the rebel MLAs and Eknath Shinde. He had also claimed that he was forcible taken to a hospital by around 150 policemen claiming he had an heart attack, and he was kept in the hospital and injected with medicine. He said that after he was taken to Guwahati, he managed to return to Nagpur on a Chartered plane. On his name appearing in the list of signatures of Shiv Sena MLAs supporting Eknath Shinde, Deshmukh had claimed that he had not signed the document, and his signature was doctored.
But the Shiv Sena MLAs in the Shinde camp have released his photographs with them where he is seen happily boarding the plane and landing at the airport. They have also released photographs and videos showing Nitin Deshmukh signing the letter in support of Eknath Shinde.
Nitin Deshmukh in his talk with the media said, “After the voting for the legislative council, I was taken to Thane along with our other fellow MLAs. It all seemed normal at that time. But after Thane, the vehicles suddenly took a turn and we were told that we are going somewhere else. When we reached Surat, I saw so many police personnel deployed there. I had never seen such a grand hotel in my life. Police officers including those of the IPS ranks were making sure that no Shiv Sena MLA goes back. So, this is the level of conspiracy and planning made by the Bharatiya Janata Party. Everything was happening with their support. In Surat, I told Eknath Shinde saheb that I want to go back, but he did not listen to me.”
Alleging Gujarat police for forcibly abducting him on the inputs of Eknath Shinde and BJP, Nitin Deshmukh said, “I somehow managed to escape at around 12 in the noon. Till 3 pm I was roaming on the roads and was chased by not less than 150 policemen. Somewhere I stopped near some school or college and called my fellow leaders in Maharashtra who arranged a vehicle for me. Before the vehicle could reach me, the police lifted me and took me to a hospital. This means that my phone call was also being tracked and listened to. In the hospital, from 3 pm to 6:30 pm I somehow dodged the doctors and did not allow them to touch me. But at around 6:30 pm, around 10-15 people lifted me and gave me an injection in my arm saying that I have just had a heart attack. I was unconscious for some time after this. When I woke up, I was in a hospital room and around 50 police were in that room to keep a watch on me.”
#truth : Nitin Deshmukh taking flight to Surat willingly.
— #VinchiCode🇮🇳 (@VishnuKumbhar7) June 23, 2022
At he even signed his support to Eknath. pic.twitter.com/pbSV7pQa24
Nitin Deshmukh further said, “Then I decided to go with the rebel MLAs and see what exactly they are going to do and come back in an intelligent manner because physical resistance was not the way to fight with this well-planned conspiracy. I went to Guwahati with them and in Guwahati, I somehow managed to arrange a special airplane that would take me to Nagpur and came back.” Nitin Deshmukh did not disclose who helped him to fly back from Guwahati, and who arranged a chartered plane at such a short notice. He said that it was the almighty God himself who helped him out and that he will not name the man who helped him in Guwahati. He also compared his comeback with the heroic escape of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj from Agra.
Nitin Deshmukh also claimed that his signature seen in the resolution signed by the rebel MLAs is forged and incorrect. In the first press talk on 22nd June 2022, he even went on to claim that the one who is seen in the visuals while signing the document is not him but somebody else looking like him. But on 23rd June 2022, in a press conference with senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, he did not say any such thing. The MLAs in the Shinde camp have also released more photographs of Nitin Deshmukh signing the resolution. Nitin Deshmukh is clearly identified in those photographs.
