Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on Wednesday. After the meeting, he said that he raised the matter of Enforcement Directorate’s action against leaders of Maharashtra’s ruling coalition, ANI reported.
The central agency, on Tuesday, had attached assets worth Rs 11.15 crore of three people, including Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut’s wife Varsha Raut, in connection with the Patra Chawl land scam. The scam involves a private company selling the floor space index of the Patra Chawl’s plot that belongs to the Maharashtra Housing Area Development Authority to various builders.
“On what basis was action taken against Sanjay Raut? Pawar asked mediapersons. “This is injustice. What’s the provocation for action against Raut – just because he is making some statements?”
Pawar was speaking at the press conference in Parliament after his meeting with Modi, which lasted for 20 minutes.
Apart from Raut, former Maharashtra minister Anil Deshmukh is also facing an Enforcement Directorate inquiry in a money laundering case. On Wednesday, the Central Bureau of Investigation took his custody in a corruption case.
Meanwhile at the conference, the Nationalist Congress Party chief also dismissed the misinformation that there was turmoil in Maharashtra’s Maha Vikas Aghadi government, NDTV reported.
The government is a coalition of the Shiv Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress.
“We will fight together in [the] next elections… the MVA [Maha Vikas Aghadi], he said. “There is stability, I am answering these questions for the last two-and-a-half years.”
Pawar also discussed the issue of Maharashtra governor’s delay in approving 12 names for the state Legislative Council, The Indian Express reported.
“The Governor has not been functioning as per norms for the past two-and-a-half years,” Pawar said. “He has kept pending the issue of nominating 12 members to the Legislative Council. I drew the Prime Minister’s attention to these issues…he promised to look into them.”
On November 6, 2020, the Maharashtra’s council of ministers had submitted a list of 12 names to the governor. However, the nomination has been delayed for more than two years, India Today reported.
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