MUMBAI: Senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar, who served as deputy to former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan in the coalition government with the Congress, is determined to defame and defeat his former boss. Pawar, who believes Chavan implicated him in the multi-crore irrigation scam, has been avoiding taking the senior Congress leader’s name.
Referring to Chavan merely as “te” (he) and attempting to tarnish Chavan’s image as a ‘clean administrator’, Ajit has expressed doubts whether Chavan was involved in some of the financial transactions when he cleared several files pertaining to his Urban Development Department (UDD) in last two months.
“The files that were kept aside unsigned for four years were cleared in a hurry. Did he (Chavan) get any tonic?” Ajit asked.
This is the first allegation of graft against Chavan. Even, the opposition leaders have not accused him of corruption in his four-year tenure. Pawar claimed that some officials in Chavan’s department had told him about the file clearances. “I have filed a query under RTI to know the details. If the NCP comes to power, we will initiate an inquiry into his act,” Pawar said.
The NCP on Wednesday made its candidate in Karad (South), from where Chavan is contesting the Assembly election, withdraw his nomination and announced its support to Chavan’s nearest rival Vilas Patil Undalkar. Ajit said that he will campaign for Undalkar but avoided questions on whether he would target Chavan in his campaign.
Chavan has alleged that the NCP broke its alliance with the Congress because of Ajit’s “monstrous ambition” to become the CM. Ajit came down heavily on Chavan for his statement. “He was working in most powerful Prime Minister’s Office. Why did he leave that to be a state CM?” he asked.