No clue why Ajit resigned from assembly: NCP chief
MUMBAI: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar resigned as a member of the Maharashtra assembly on Friday evening ahead of state elections due less than a month away, as he confronts a money-laundering probe in connection with financial irregularities to the tune of ~25,000 crore at Maharashtra State Cooperative (MSC) Bank, in which he is a director.
Pawar, a nephew of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, who has also been named in the case by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), went incommunicado after submitting his resignation. Sharad Pawar said Ajit Pawar had resigned because he was upset that he (Sharad Pawar) had been dragged into the case
“He (Ajit) didn’t inform me before or after submitting his resignation. He also could not be contacted. I came to know from his son that Ajit was upset as ED included my name in the probe and is of the belief that it is going on because of him. He was so upset that he is thinking of retiring from politics and planning to do some farming business. He has also suggested to his son to leave politics as its level has gone down too low,” Pawar said in Pune.
The NCP chief denied rumours of a rift between him and Ajit Pawar. “There is nothing like a rift in the family. Being the head of the family, all decisions taken by me are respected by all. We all are together and will continue to remain together,” Pawar told reporters after visiting areas hit by a cloudburst that triggered flooding in Pune this week.
Ajit Pawar, a six-term MLA from Baramati constituency, submitted his resignation to speaker Haribhau Bagade on Friday before going incommunicado; the resignation was accepted by the latter.
Sharad Pawar had recently taken exception to an announce
ment by his nephew that the NCP would now display saffron flags along with its tricolour at party rallies. Pawar said the decision to use saffron flags was taken by Ajit Pawar in his personal capacity and not by the party.
Before the Lok Sabha polls, Ajit Pawar had insisted on his son Parth contesting the Maval seat in Pune. Sharad Pawar, who was not in favour of Parth fighting the election, announced then that he