Mumbai: Ahead of the forthcoming Lok Sabha and State Assembly polls, the war of words began between ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and opposition Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders. Raosaheb Danve, state president of BJP on Saturday evening dared that NCP leader and former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar can be arrested at any time in alleged multi-crore irrigation scam.
NCP, however said, Pawar had no role in the alleged scam and accused the BJP government of trying to deviate the political atmosphere ahead of the elections. Danve was addressing a rally ‘Atal Sankalp Mahasamelan’ at Pimpri-Chinchwad in Pune, once the bastion of NCP for which Pawar had a stronghold over the municipal corporation. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis too was present at the rally.
“Police have reached the doorsteps of Ajit Pawar in the irrigation scam. Therefore, his condition is such that there is a sword hanging on his head and he can be arrested anytime,” Danve said. The scam, pegged at Rs 72,000 crore, relates to alleged corruption and irregularities in approval and execution of various irrigation projects in the state during the Congress-NCP rule.
It was probed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB). Fadnavis did not say anything about whether Pawar was going to be arrested. But he did accuse the erstwhile Congress-NCP government of looting public money through the irrigation scam.
Fadnavis also accused the Congress-NCP government of ‘splurging public money by awarding tenders much above their estimated rate.
“Their government allotted tenders at 30-40 per cent above the estimated rate. However, we have allotted tenders worth Rs 9,000 crore, much below the estimated rates. As much as 62 per cent tenders are below the estimated rate, 25 per cent are on par with the estimated rate while the rest have been allotted just one per cent above the estimated rate,” he said.
NCP state spokesperson Nawab Malik, meanwhile, dismissed Danve’s statement. “BJP has been saying the same thing when they were in opposition and even now, when they are ruling the state. If they have the guts, they should take action. They should not keep making such empty threats,” he said.