After Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar, former chief minister and veteran Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan has received a notice from the Income Tax department seeking his reply within 21 days for the returns filed by him for the last 10 years.
Chavan has slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and claimed that the saffron party knows how to use power and for whom. “The BJP has a well-planned strategy on how to use power and for whom. A similar notice was issued to Sharad Pawar a few days back and now I have been sent a notice. I will give a proper explanation on that," he said.
Chavan, who has been minister in the UPA government and later state chief minister, said he has been taking appropriate action. He took a dig at the BJP government at the Centre, saying that the notice was part of the routine process of the Income Tax department.
To a question whether the notice was issued to harass him, as he has been quite critical about the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre and the BJP over the economic condition and agricultural laws, Chavan said that the BJP knows very well how to use its power.
Congress party’s ally NCP came to Chavan’s defence. State NCP chief and Water Resources Minister Jayant Patil said, “Veteran Congress leader and former CM Prithviraj Chavan has been in public life for so many years and has worked with full transparency. I don’t think there will be any problem in his filings.’’
In September, Pawar was served a notice in connection with his poll affidavits submitted to the Election Commission. Furthermore, Pawar’s daughter and NCP Member of the Parliament (MP) Supriya Sule, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackray and his son and Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray were also served notices by the Income Tax Department that seeked clarifications on their poll affidavits.
