Ajit Pawar Claims BJP – Shiv Sena Attempted to Collect Party Funds by Inflating Irrigation Project Costs

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, Jan 13: Even while claiming that his party’s relations with the BJP was not strained and contesting the on-going civic elections in Maharashtra separately was only an one-off situation, the deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Tuesday launched a veiled attack on his Mahayuti alliance partner with an allegation of corruption during the Shiv Sena – BJP alliance government in the state some three decades ago.

Amid differences with ally BJP over party leader Nawab Malik and the corruption allegations against him Mr Pawar alleged that during the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance government in 1995, the costs of irrigation projects were deliberately inflated to collect party funds.

Highlighting a project from Marathwada, Pawar claimed he still possessed the original files. “During the functioning of the Krishna Valley Development Corporation, when the file for this project came to me, the project cost was shown as Rs 330 crore,” Pawar said.

“However, I rejected it. Upon re-evaluation and subsequent approval, it was revealed that the same project could be completed for Rs 220 crore. It emerged that Rs 100 crore had been added for party funds and Rs 10 crore for the concerned officials. If this inflated amount had not been cancelled, it would have triggered a massive financial catastrophe in the state,” he said.

Pawar’s allegation of earmarking Rs 100 crore for ‘Party Funds’ and Rs 10 crore to line the pockets of the concerned officials is being seen as an attack on the Shiv Sena-BJP government that ruled Maharashtra from 1995 – 1999.

The statement has made the BJP very uncomfortable. The party had refused to contest the Brihanmumbai Corporation polls alongside Pawar’s faction of the Nationalist Congress Party till Nawab Malik – accused in corruption cases — was dropped. Ajit Pawar said if legal action was taken at the time in 1999, it would have caused a political upheaval in the state.

Between 1995 and 1999, the Irrigation Department was primarily held by the BJP, with Eknath Khadse serving as the irrigation minister. Khadse is now with the Sharad Pawar-led NCP. After the 1999 elections, the Congress and the newly formed NCP came to power. The Irrigation portfolio was allotted to Ajit Pawar. It was during Ajit Pawar’s tenure as Irrigation minister that the famous Rs 70,000 crore irrigation scam allegations emerged.

Ajit Pawar’s revelation comes in the backdrop of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis taking a swipe at him for criticising the BJP during the campaign for civic body elections in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. The parties are contesting separately, and Fadnavis had said the two sides had agreed on “friendly” contests.

“I have followed that rule till now, but his restraint is somewhat shaken,” Fadnavis had said, responding to Ajit Pawar’s aggressive stance against the BJP. In Pune, the two NCP factions have teamed up to take on the BJP. Pune was known to be an NCP bastion, but the BJP has been making inroads in the area.

Talking about the reunion ahead of local body elections in the state, Ajit Pawar said, “I view it very positively. It is a good thing. It was because of the efforts of the workers that a joint election strategy was decided upon in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad.” The workers knew if they contested against each other, the votes would be split. That was something they wanted to avoid at all costs.
“Some people from both parties tried to find a solution. Initially, a solution wasn’t found, but then some incorrect statements and news reports circulated, claiming that Ajit Pawar was saying that they should only use the clock symbol. I never said that,” Pawar said. There has been speculation about the possible reunion of the two factions of the NCP and statements from Ajit Pawar have fuelled it.

Ajit Pawar has denied that ties with BJP are strained. The relationship, he said, would not be affected by the high-voltage campaign for the civic body elections. But in his statements — suggesting irregularities in irrigation projects that began long before his tenure — there is a hint of a counterattack, sources indicated.

While Ajit Pawar presents himself as a politician who saved the state hundreds of crores by scrutinizing files, he is also paying the BJP back in the same coin by pointing a finger at the party that accused him of corruption and by driving home the point that he now shares power with them.