RR Patil signed file ordering enquiry into irrigation scam case against me: Ajit Pawar

Tasgaon (Maharashtra): NCP chief and Deputy Chief Minister, Ajit Pawar on Tuesday levelled a serious allegation against former state Deputy Chief Minister late RR Patil, saying that when he was the Home Minister he signed the file for an open investigation against him (Ajit Pawar) in the much-talked-about Rs 70,000 crore case relating to the irrigation scam.

“I helped RR Patil, who was popularly known as Aba, often in difficult times, but he signed the file for an open enquiry against me. I felt very sad about it. It was like cutting a throat with hair,” said Ajit Pawar at the rally at Tasgaon after the party nominee and former BJP MP, Sanjaykaka Patil filed his nomination.

Sanjaykaka Patil is pitted against NCP(SP) candidate and RR Patil’s son Rohit Patil.

“I didn't even know that RR Patil had signed the file pertaining to an open enquiry against me in his capacity as the Home Minister. Thereafter, the NCP withdrew support to the Congress when Prithviraj Chavan was the Chief Minister. That led to the imposition of President’s Rule in Maharashtra. The then Governor refused to sign that file saying that the elected Chief Minister will sign it,” said Ajit Pawar.

He further added, “After the elections took place, the Devendra Fadnavis-led government took over. Devendra Fadnavis personally called me to his residence and told me that he had signed the file ordering an open enquiry into the irrigation scam case against me. Devendra Fadnavis also showed that file to me.”

Ajit Pawar claimed that he was painted as the main culprit in the irrigation scam case and he was under attack from various quarters.

“The charge was that I committed a corruption of Rs 70,000 crore in the irrigation sector. I repeatedly said that when Rs 42,000 crore were spent on salary and pension, how could there be corruption of Rs 70,000 crore. The bigger the number, the more the people think that it was corruption of that scale,” he said.

Ajit Pawar recalled that after RR Patil lost the home department he helped him a lot and again he was made home minister.

He further said, “I used to tell my leaders several times to give me the post of Home Minister at least once. If I become the Home Minister, I would not allow any wrongdoings. I have no appetite for madness. Even if my worker is wrong, I speak to him.”

By raking up the irrigation scam and open enquiry cleared by RR Patil, Ajit Pawar has tried to hint how he was made a scapegoat in the alleged irrigation scam case.

By choosing Tasgaon, which is RR Patil’s bastion, Ajit Pawar has also indirectly targeted his one-time favourite colleague in the ministry and in the united NCP during the poll campaign to checkmate his son and NCP(SP) nominee Rohit Patil.