Nationalist Congress Party (SP) leader Supriya Sule on Wednesday called Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s remarks against former state home minister RR Patil “insensitive” and said she apologised to the late leader’s wife and mother for the comments.
Speaking separately, Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan, who was chief minister at the time, said he had never ordered an inquiry into an alleged irrigation scam.
Baramati Lok Sabha MP Sule said her politically estranged cousin’s statement saddened her and made her restless. She also slammed Deputy CM and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis over it.
NCP chief Ajit Pawar on Tuesday alleged that he was “backstabbed” by his close colleague RR Patil who ordered an open inquiry against him in an alleged multi-crore irrigation scam. He claimed a file mentioning Patil’s remarks ordering an inquiry was shown to him by BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis after he became chief minister in 2014. Pawar made these remarks while addressing a rally for the NCP candidate Sanjay Kaka Patil who is in the fray against the late Patil’s son Rohit from Tasgaon in Sangli district for the November 20 assembly elections. Sule said she called up RR Patil’s wife and mother and apologised to them after Ajit Pawar’s statement as it might have hurt the late leader’s family. The Baramati MP said it was Fadnavis who had then levelled the allegations of a ₹70,000 crore scam in an irrigation project and now he should answer what happened to those charges.
“The remarks by Ajit Pawar against late minister and NCP leader R R Patil are painful and unsettling. I was surprised and saddened to hear such an insensitive statement from (Ajit Pawar) about someone who is no more. It’s disheartening to see politics sinking so low,” Sule told reporters in Baramati. She said NCP was united when the allegations were made. Ajit Pawar was the water resources development minister during 1999-2009 when the Congress-NCP combine was in power in Maharashtra. Ajit Pawar split the Sharad Pawar-founded party last year. “It was Devendra Fadnavis who made the allegations against Ajit Dada that there were irregularities worth ₹70,000 in the irrigation project. It was Devendra who sought an inquiry into the matter,” she said. Sule said RR Patil, who was popularly known as Aaba, felt that there should be a free and fair investigation in the interest of the state. “He might have thought that Ajit Dada had nothing to do with the allegations and he wanted to make sure Ajit came clean,” she said. It is likely that as the opposition was levelling allegations, Sule said, “R R Aaba thought that if Ajit Dada had not done anything, he might have signed the file as there was constant pressure and demand from Fadnavis.” Now, Fadnavis should clarify whether there was truth in the allegations, she said. “What came first? Allegations or the sign? The answer is allegations,” Sule said. The NCP (SP) leader also raised questions over the claim that Fadnavis showed the file to Ajit Pawar. “When you take oath as a minister, you are not supposed to share file details. How come the file was shown to Ajit Pawar who was in opposition then,” she asked.
Speaking to reporters in Satara, Congress leader Chavan said as CM he had never ordered an inquiry into the alleged irrigation scam as claimed in some quarters.
“Allegations were made against me that I had ordered an FIR in the irrigation scam then or that I had ordered an inquiry into the matter, but it is not true. I had never ordered any inquiry and never ever used the word ‘scam’ then,” Chavan clarified.
He said he had called for a ‘white paper’ on irrigation projects just for information.
“Later discussions took place on the white paper in the assembly and some people sought inquiry into the Vidarbha Vikas Mandal (whose name cropped up in the alleged scam). After that inquiry, a file was created and recommendation came that there should be an open inquiry into it. The file went to home minister (R R Patil) who then gave approval to it,” Chavan claimed.
The former CM said he never saw that file so there was no question of signing it but he had to pay the price as his government was toppled.
Chavan said he never used the word “scam” while referring to irrigation projects.
It was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who spoke about a ₹70,000 crore “irrigation scam” in Maharashtra at a rally in Bhopal, said the Congress leader.