With Lok Sabha elections due early next year and state Assembly polls slated later in 2019, Pawar is vital to NCP's fortunes and consequentially to the Bharatiya Janata Party that is ruling both in centre as well as the state.
Nationalist Congress Party leader and former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar got a breather on Wednesday as the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court merely took on record the affidavit filed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB). The affadavit, filed on Tuesday, raised several questions about his role as minister in an alleged multi-crore irrigation scam.
The matter was adjourned with no fixed date for next hearing. While Pawar faces no immediate action, a long-drawn battle —both legal and political — lies ahead of him.
With Lok Sabha elections due early next year and state Assembly polls slated later in 2019, Pawar is vital to NCP's fortunes and consequentially to the Bharatiya Janata Party that is ruling both in centre as well as the state.
The NCP has been taking on the BJP-led government on a host of issues such as reservations for the Marathas and Dhangar, drought, lapses in the flagship Jalyukta Shivar project and deteriorating finances. The damning affidavit puts Pawar in the dock and has forced the generally aggressive leader on the back foot. When approached, he merely said that he has faith in judiciary and will wait for the law to take its course.
Although there were fears Pawar faced immediate interrogation and even arrest, sources close to the leader say they were mere speculations. "Pawar will get an opportunity to defend himself by filing a counter affidavit, but the battle is clearly going to be long drawn," said a leader, requesting anonymity.
Though Pawar was not named in any of the 24 criminal complaints filed into the alleged multi-crore irrigation scam, the ACB affidavit mentions that he was part of the overall 'modus operandi'. The affidavit described the scam as a "weird case of conspiracy" in the water resources department which has "defrauded the government".
NCP President Sharad Pawar, along with other non-NDA leaders, is leading the effort to stitch together an alliance of like-minded parties against BJP at the Centre, ahead of 2019 elections. In Maharashtra, NCP is actively trying to mend ties with former ally Congress and other secular parties. In this context, cornering NCP's firebrand leader assumes great political significance.
Pawar, an influential Maratha leader himself, was instrumental in keeping the steam alive in the issue of Maratha quota in the state assembly and also urged the government to table the State Backward Class Commission in the legislature.
Opposition leaders allege that the entrapment in the scam is BJP's game plan to counter boisterous opposition ahead of polls. Pawar, meanwhile, is unfazed by developments. "The matter is subjudice," he told DNA, "so I do not want to comment. However, I have full faith in the judiciary." The leader of opposition in the state legislative council and senior NCP leader Dhananjay Munde denied Pawar's involvement in the alleged scam.
On his part, state Water Resources minister and senior BJP leader Girish Mahajan denied political vendetta, saying the move to file an affidavit was part of the ongoing process and inquiry was still underway.
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