The reluctance of the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) to aggressively take on the NCP over corruption allegations in a Pune land deal involving the veteran leader’s grandnephew Parth Pawar has created a sense of unease among its Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) partner Congress, with many of the view that the NCP (SP) is throwing away an opportunity to demand the resignation of Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, Parth’s father, and create momentum for the alliance ahead of the local body polls.
“There has always been a systematic plan by the BJP and our allies to weaken the Congress. Now, with Pawar refraining from taking on Ajit, it is out in the open,” former Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole said recently, adding that the NCP(SP) should have taken an aggressive stand against Parth and Ajit.
Another senior Congress leader admitted that a united call to demand Ajit’s resignation would have exerted pressure on the government. “However, it seems the decision not to pursue the matter was taken as the Pawar family name was involved,” he said.
The accusations that the NCP (SP) was going easy on Ajit and Parth, while going hammer and tongs against ministers and leaders of the ruling Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde, are also being seen as an indication that the Pawar family stands united despite Ajit splitting the party in 2023.
Since the split, the Pawars have refrained from attacking each other in public, unlike Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray who have publicly sparred since the former walked out of the party in 2022. Even during the campaign for last year’s Lok Sabha polls, where members of the Pawar family were pitted against each other, they chose not to trade barbs.
Last week, even as NCP(SP) spokespersons remained silent on the issue, party MP Supriya Sule, Ajit’s cousin and Parth’s aunt, came out in their support. “First, it was said that Rs 21 crore stamp duty was waived. Now, the figure is Rs 6 crore. Was the stamp duty paid or not? The government should clarify if the deal had taken place or not,” she said.
Pointing out that she had no problem if people thought she was backing Parth, Sule said, “Parth has told me he has done nothing wrong. The Chief Minister (Devendra Fadnavis) should clarify. If the tehsildar says he has not signed on the deal, how can he be suspended?”
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Ajit has already announced the cancellation of the land sale deed.
Two days later, Sharad Pawar, while reacting to the issue, said it was only proper that the entire matter be probed and facts presented before the people. “The CM has publicly said that the matter is serious. He must conduct a probe and put forward the facts of the case,” the NCP patriarch said in Akola, Vidarbha, adding that only Fadnavis can answer why an FIR has not been lodged against Parth.
NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar, who has been at the forefront of targeting Sena ministers and leaders, especially Sanjay Shirsat over an alleged land scam, has also stopped short of criticising Ajit and Parth over the issue, directing his criticism instead towards the Mahayuti government.
Many NCP(SP) leaders The Indian Express reached out to said they did not want to get into the matter as “Pawar saheb has already spoken on it”.