Pune land scam case backfires on BJP; its Mumbai chief in soup

The BJP’s efforts to corner the ruling Congress-NCP coalition over the controversial allocation of land in Pune in violation of the Urban Land Ceiling Act (ULCA) have boomeranged on it.

Raj Purohit, president of the Mumbai city unit of the party, appears to have played a role in clearing seven of the projects when the Shiv Sena-BJP government was in power.

Senior BJP leader Madhav Bhandari has filed a public interest petition on the Pune land scam, which the high court last week said could be bigger than the 2G spectrum scandal.

Party president Nitin Gadkari has already held discussions with Purohit on the issue. “We are waiting for the developments in the court on February 21. If the CBI takes over the investigations of the ULCA scam we will have to take action against Purohit,” a senior party general secretary told DNA.

However, the BJP appears divided. A section in the party, which is seeking the resignation of Purohit, is using the land scam to embarrass senior leader Gopinath Munde too, sources said. Purohit is perceived to be close to Munde.

On his part, Munde has dismissed any intra-party politics over the matter. “I have nothing to do,” he said.

Defending Purohit, Bhandari said, “It is the NCP’s design to malign the BJP… In any case Purohit cannot be held guilty. In the Sena-BJP government the ministry of urban development was with the then chief minister Manohar Joshi. Purohit was the minister of state. A junior minister is never allowed to clear any important files.”

Sources, however, said there were documents to suggest that Purohit gave his consent to the clearance.