Congress calls for probe into Ajit Pawar move into NDA fold

Taking a swipe at the BJP, the Congress also said the saffron party’s “washing machine” was nowhere more powerful than in Maharashtra. Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh cited Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s recent remarks to claim that the issue involved not just the use of “coercion and blackmail” but also breach of the oath of confidentiality and the Official Secrets Act.

“The BJP’s washing machine is an all-India phenomenon but perhaps nowhere was it more powerful than in Maharashtra,” he said.

The use of the term “washing machine” by the Opposition in political parlance refers to the pattern of allegedly sullied leaders being inducted into the BJP and portrayed as clean.

When in Opposition before 2014, the BJP raised allegations about massive corruption by Ajit Pawar, then the state’s irrigation and water resources minister and the allegations claimed corruption to the tune of `70,000 crore, Ramesh pointed out.

The Congress leader claimed that Ajit Pawar has now confirmed that blackmail and coercion surrounding these charges were used by the BJP to bring him over to the National Democratic Alliance.

“The non-biological Prime Minister himself led the charge, famously labelling the NCP — now his much beloved ally at the state and Centre — as a Naturally Corrupt Party,” he said.

“Ajit Pawar has now revealed that after becoming Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis showed him a file recommending an open inquiry against Ajit Pawar in the alleged irrigation scam. One can only imagine the threat that was implicit in this move: submit to us, or face action,” Mr Ramesh said.

Ajit Pawar and several other MLAs broke away from the Nationalist Congress Party led by his uncle Sharad Pawar and joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government in the state last year.

The Congress leader asserted that this was a serious matter since it involved not just the use of coercion and blackmail but also breach of the oath of confidentiality and the Official Secrets Act.

An investigation should be conducted into this matter, he said.

His remarks came days after Pawar alleged he was “backstabbed” by close colleague and then home minister R.R. Patil, who ordered an open inquiry against him in the alleged multi-crore irrigation scam.

Pawar claimed a file mentioning Patil’s remarks ordering an inquiry was shown to him by Fadnavis after he became chief minister in 2014.

Mr Pawar made these claims while addressing a rally for NCP candidate Sanjay Kaka Patil, who is in the fray against the late Patil’s son Rohit from Tasgaon in Sangli district.