The allegations against his son Parth over a land deal have put NCP chief and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in a spot at a time when churning is on within the Mahayuti coalition over the coming local body elections.
The BJP, which hopes to build on its strong performance in the 2024 Assembly elections to consolidate its hold at the grassroots in Maharashtra, has dropped hints more than once that it was ready to contest the local body polls on its own. The party is seen as trying to expand its hold in both the Mumbai Metropolitan Region and the Pune area, seen as the Shiv Sena and NCP’s turf, respectively.
The NCP, for its part, has indicated that doors to a merger with the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) are open. At a recent internal party meeting, the NCP (SP) leadership reportedly told its workers to be ready for a pre-poll alliance with any party to “isolate the BJP”, including Ajit’s NCP.
At a recent NCP meeting to discuss the local body polls, the message was the same. Ajit directed party workers to “be ready for all circumstances”.
However, given the heat on Ajit after the land deal, there could be a spanner in the talks.
Ajit was prompt to announce that the deal had been cancelled, and claimed that Parth had no idea that the land being bought was government land. At a press conference Friday, he said: “ The government has ordered an investigation. Let there be doodh ka doodh, paani ka paani (full clarity).”
However, his claim regarding Parth being in the dark may not have many takers. The allegations concern the sale of a 40-acre plot in Mundhwa area of Pune by a local resident and power of attorney holder Sheetal Tejwani to a limited liability partnership in which Parth is a co-owner. The company, Amadea Enterprises, purchased the government land for Rs 300 crore, with the stamp duty waived off. A preliminary report has indicated lapses in the sale and registration of the land.
The position Ajit has taken this time has also been contrasted with his September 2012 stand, when he had resigned as Deputy CM in the Congress-NCP government after he was accused of involvement in an alleged irrigation scam, saying he was doing so to facilitate a fair investigation. After a clean chit, he made his way back to the government three months later.
This time, aware of his weakened position, and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s oft-repeated assertion of running a “transparent” government, Ajit has not taken the risk of giving up his post. With the government saying the investigation will continue, irrespective of the deal being cancelled, Ajit said: “I expect it to function in a transparent manner without any political pressure.”
The NCP chief’s remarks were seen as a hint at the curious timing of the revelations, and the power tussle among the Mahayuti partners. A senior NCP leader said: “The deal has been brought up to target Ajit Pawar. We don’t want to hazard any guesses as to who is behind it.”
To the possibility of an NCP reunion, a senior BJP leader pointed to the fact that their allies held few cards. “Even if (Shiv Sena chief) Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar were to pull out, the BJP with 137 MLAs out of 288 will stay in power,” the leader said. The halfway mark in the Maharashtra Assembly is 145, and the shortfall of 7 will not be difficult for the BJP to make up.
A senior BJP functionary noted that in the 2014 Assembly polls, when the BJP contested separately, it won 122 seats compared to the then undivided NCP’s 41.
The blow to Ajit comes close on the heels of a row involving Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol, who is seen within the BJP as a promising young Maratha leader, close to Fadnavis. The lack of a Maratha face of the stature of Shinde and Ajit has been one of the BJP’s main problems in the state.
Mohol was accused of facilitating a real estate firm in a Rs 230-crore land transaction in Pune’s Model Colony. Although the Shiv Sena’s Ravindra Dhangekar took on Mohol, including writing a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP believes the NCP was involved in fuelling the matter.
There has been bad blood between Mohol and the NCP since the BJP leader was forced to withdraw from the race for the Maharashtra Olympic Association president’s post, facilitating a unanimous victory for Ajit for a fourth consecutive term.
For now, the NCP will take heart from the fact that within the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi, while the Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Ambadas Danve has taken the lead in raising the alleged land scam and the Congress has demanded Ajit’s resignation, the NCP (SP) has been sceptical.
Asked about Parth being linked to the alleged land scam, NCP (SP) working president and MP Supriya Sule said: “In a democracy, people have the right to demand what they want to. But in this matter, the CM should clarify. The tehsildar and sub-registrar have been suspended, but they say they have not signed on the sale deed… It is not a Parth Pawar issue, it is an internal issue of the government. Parth is not in the government.”