The biggest sensation in Maharashtra's politics last week was the revelation about state Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's son, Parth Pawar, getting involved in a land deal in Pune which turned out to be totally illegal. The land belongs to the government, and by law no government land can be sold to a private party. The deal was registered in Pune at the sub-registrar's office, and the stamp duty for the land purchase was also waived off, as the buyers claimed that they were going to develop an information technology park on the land parcel, which technically gets a stamp duty waiver. The issue became the biggest talking point for the opposition Congress party and the regional media for many days, as the Deputy CM seemed totally confused and on the defensive, giving explanations to the regional media about what had actually happened. The matter became a political issue and caused embarrassment for the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti alliance. However, the BJP leadership in Maharashtra has not asked Ajit Pawar to either step down from his position temporarily or resign while a high-level committee runs an inquiry into the matter.
This is not the first time that Ajit Pawar has landed in trouble. Sometime back, he attracted a big controversy when a video of a recorded conversation surfaced on social media of him putting pressure on a female police officer to go soft on some of his activists in the Solapur district, who were, allegedly, found dredging sand illegally. Before that, Ajit Pawar caused many controversies over his indecent speeches in rural areas of Maharashtra as well as his close association with former minister Dhananjay Munde, who had to resign after his associate Valmik Karad was arrested for serious criminal activities and involvement in organised crime. The big question is, why is the BJP leadership in Maharashtra not able to take any tough action against Ajit Pawar despite the various controversies he has courted?
Ajit Pawar spoke with the media in his hometown of Baramati on Sunday and claimed that he had no knowledge of the land deal in which almost 42 acres of land, belonging to the government, was reportedly sold at the price of Rs 300 crores to a private company, which is owned by his son, Parth Pawar. He said that though an agreement was registered at the government office in Pune, no money has actually changed hands in the deal as yet, and now the deal will be cancelled and an inquiry will take place. The size of the land involved and its location, Koregaon Park in Pune, raised many eyebrows. Many said that the cost of 42 acres of land in the Koregaon Park area would perhaps be over Rs 1800 crores. The regional media has highlighted the issue and questioned why the BJP leadership, which, a few years ago, asked its senior minister Eknath Khadse to resign when his relatives allegedly received some benefit in land allotment in Pune's Bhosari area during CM Fadnavis' first term, is not taking any action in this matter. Why is the BJP going soft on Ajit Pawar when he or his associates and family members are repeatedly seen to be involved in controversies?
There are two reasons for this. First, it is about coalition politics tactics. In the present coalition government, the BJP depends on its two alliance partners. One is Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena, and the second is Ajit Pawar's NCP. Shinde has 57 MLAs in the state assembly, while Ajit Pawar has 41 elected MLAs in the house. It is very clear that the BJP does not fully trust Eknath Shinde, as he is highly ambitious and seems a little upset that he was demoted from the Chief Minister's position to that of Deputy Chief Minister in the Mahayuti 2.0 government. The political and verbal clashes between Shinde's men and the BJP are very obvious and frequent. One of Shinde's ministers, Gulabrao Patil, was heard saying openly at a rally recently that the BJP was taking the Shiv Sena for granted and had “a secret plan of going solo without the alliance partners in the forthcoming elections”. This unpleasant and uncomfortable relationship between the BJP and Shinde makes the BJP depend a lot on Ajit Pawar and his 41 MLAs. The BJP feels that Pawar is a good option for them to depend on if Shinde starts throwing tantrums.
Secondly, the BJP feels that Ajit Pawar is a useful partner for them, as he belongs to the "left of the centre political space", as in his political rallies and campaign speeches Pawar keeps harping on his ideology of staying committed to "the path of Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, and Mahatma Phule", which is the socialist, secular, and liberal path. The BJP feels that Pawar has a good hold over some of the minority community-dominated constituencies in Maharashtra and also attracts votes of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes communities. The saffron party feels that Ajit Pawar is a good bet for them to get those votes for the Mahayuti alliance, which the BJP alone would not have been able to garner.
All this has made the BJP go soft on Ajit Pawar ahead of the civic poll season in Maharashtra. The state has seen several political leaders step down from their positions of power when they or their relatives were found involved in land-related irregularities. The list is long. But, for the time being, Ajit Pawar is not likely to be part of that list!
Rohit Chandavarkar is a senior journalist who has worked for 31 years with various leading newspaper brands and television channels in Mumbai and Pune.
