JOIN USSenior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar, once again donned the mantle of deputy chief minister after he was sworn-in at Raj Bhavan in a hurriedly organised ceremony on Friday.
Governor K Sankaranarayanan administered the oath of office to him in the presence of Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, who interestingly was one of the key persons behind the furore that had forced Ajit Pawar to resign from the post of DCM on September 25.
The opposition parties-Shiv Sena and BJP-boycotted the ceremony and demanded a probe by a Special Investigation Team into alleged irregularities in irrigation projects between 1999-2000 when Pawar held the portfolio of water resource.
Since early this year Ajit Pawar, the nephew of NCP chief and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, has been facing flak for being an accessory to irregularities in irrigation projects. With a love-hate relationship between the Congress and NCP of ruling Democratic Front, even Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan hurled barbs at him.
The chorus for an enquiry into a quantum jump in irrigation project costs gained momentum with tje chief minister himself putting up a proposal for a “White Paper” on it dealing with the period from 1999-2000 during which Ajit held the Water Resource portfolio. On September 25, Ajit resigned from the post of DCM, stating that he will not accept any ministerial post till he was cleared of all allegations.
Last week the “White Paper” on irrigation projects absolved him from all charges on grounds that the acreage of arable land falling under irrigation increased substantially during the controversial period.