MUMBAI: Senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar on Saturday clarified his position over the charges of corruption and his sudden resignation from the assembly, as he addressed a press conference.
"How can there be a scam of Rs 25,000 crore in a bank which has a deposit of Rs 11,500 crore?," he asked while stating that according to RBI report there are irregularities in loan disbursal amounting to only about Rs 1,088 crore.
He also stated that he resigned from the post of legislator because party chief Sharad Pawar was defamed at this age because of him.
"How can Sharad Pawar be dragged in this? Sharad Pawar has no connection with this bank. I have reached here because of Sharad Pawar. He and the NCP are defamed because I was on the board of the bank. This is the reason I have resigned without asking him," Ajit Pawar said.
After resignation, Ajit Pawar had gone into hiding and his uncle Sharad Pawar had said at a press conferce late last night that Ajit Pawar had discussed idea of quitting politics with his son Parth.
When asked about it, Ajit Pawar today said that he didn't really mean quitting politics and that he was disturbed as his uncle's name was being dragged into the controversy. He met his uncle Sharad Pawar at his Mumbai residence today and then addressed the press conference.
"I shall accept any responsibility that the party gives me," he said.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had filed a money laundering case against Pawar, his nephew and former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and about 70 others on September 23 in connection with a Rs 25,000-crore scam in a Maharashtra State Cooperative (MSC) Bank.
"Co-operative banks help farmers. Sometimes the help is given by going out of the way. Even the Maharashtra government gave four sugar co-operatives lending by going out of the way," he said while reiterating that the charges were politically motivated.