Senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar was reinducted as Maharashtra deputy chief minister after a government white paper on irrigation gave him a clean chit even as the Opposition Shiv Sena-BJP combine boycotted his swearing-in ceremony, terming his comeback as a “farce.”
The 53-year-old nephew of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, however, told reporters after the swearing-in that he had not been indicted by any authority and had only stepped down in September-end to facilitate a white paper on irrigation. “I was out of the ministry for over two months. Nobody should make allegations that Ajit Pawar interfered while drafting the white paper. When I resigned, I had said that when the white paper is out, people will know the reality,” he said.
The Opposition members, as well as ministers belonging to ally Cong, stayed away from the swearing-in ceremony. Describing Pawar’s comeback as a “tamasha”, a senior Sena leader said the Opposition would raise the issue in the winter session of legislature starting from December 10 at Nagpur. A no-confidence motion would be moved against the Congress-NCP government, he added. BJP has demanded Pawar should face a SIT probe in the “irrigation scam.”
Pawar dismissed the demand, saying, “It is wrong to say that I influenced the probe and that the white paper was issued to benefit me.”
“Anyone can file a PIL against anyone. If you say that unless the decision on a PIL comes out, the person should stay out of power, then no minister, no chief minister and not even the prime minister will be able to hold any position and work,” he said.
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