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For the second time in two weeks, Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar met Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday. Though no details were available on what transpired at the meeting, indications are that the main subject was the impending action against Anil Deshmukh over the allegation made by dismissed cop Sachin Vaze in a letter written to Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Vaze has also named NCP’s state unit chief Jayant Patil, which is also another fear factor for the Sharad Pawar led party, sources said.
Sources said, Pawar is also unhappy about the state government ignoring sugar factories controlled by some of the opposition leaders while granting hefty loans to the tune of Rs1,600 crore. The state, however, approved the loan for 11 sugar factories controlled by leaders of the Mahayuti. It is said that Pawar may soon give a call of agitation against this decision.
The earlier meeting that took place between the two leaders on July 22 was specifically about the financial assistance to cooperative sugar factories, besides the Maratha reservation issue. The state government stands as a guarantor to the loan granted by the National Cooperative Development Corporation, a Government of India entity controlled by the Ministry of Cooperation, headed by Amit Shah.
Meanwhile, in response to Vaze’s bombshell letter to Fadnavis, sources said that the BJP-led home department is likely to initiate action against both Deshmukh and Patil. At the Saturday meeting with Shinde, Pawar is said to have aired his strong reservations.
Being the head of the state, the CM can use his might to prevent any uncalled-for political action, sources said. If indeed such an action is initiated, the NCP (SP) may come in for a huge political trouble. While Deshmukh is going to play a major role during the upcoming state assembly elections in the Vidarbha region, Patil is spearheading the party campaign by undertaking visits to various districts in Maharashtra.
In a post on X, Pawar said he discussed with the CM the government guarantee extended to sugar cooperatives and a few pending issues discussed during the last meeting. Shinde posted that a discussion was held on “various topics”.
