Mumbai: On a day when the new Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis were sworn in, the Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday disclosed that he had received notice from the Income Tax with regard to the affidavits filed during the 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2020 elections. ‘’I have received a love letter, a love letter from the income tax relating to poll affidavits filed in 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2020.’’ Pawar did not divulge further details.
It is not just a coincidence that Pawar’s close confidant and Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut had got second summons from the Enforcement Directorate in money laundering case and he is expected to appear on Saturday.
State NCP chief spokesman Mahesh Tapase questioned the timing of the I-T notice. In a tweet he said, ’’After the change in Maharashtra government, party president Sharad Pawar gets I-T notice for election affidavits of 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2020. Is it purely coincidental or something else?"
Pawar earlier had received a similar notice in September 2020 seeking clarification on his poll affidavits. Pawar had said, “They love some people” while speaking on the similar notices issued to Uddhav Thackeray, Aaditya Thackeray and Supriya Sule.
Thereafter, reacting on the income tax raids targeting his nephew and former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and his sisters in October 2021, Pawar had said, ‘’There are some government guests at Ajit's home, but I'm not worried by them.’’
‘’The government guests have arrived at Ajit Pawar’s doors. We don’t worry about these guests. I too had got a notice from the Enforcement Directorate regarding a bank before the elections. I was never a member of that bank, nor had I taken any loan. The BJP is misusing power. People will show them their place,’’ alleged Pawar.
Pawar along with other MVA leaders including Raut, Jayant Patil, and Balasaheb Thorat have blamed the BJP-led government at the Centre for the alleged misuse of central probe agencies including Income Tax, Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation against opponents and terming their actions as ‘’vendetta politics.’’
