'Attempt to hide corruption': MVA slams BJP after I-T dept gives clean chit to Ajit Pawar in benami property case

Mumbai: The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi slammed the BJP on Saturday after the Income Tax (I-T) department cleared properties valued at over Rs 1,000 crore belonging to NCP President and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar - that were seized in 2021 in Benami properties case.

Reacting to the development, Pawar said: “When did I join the BJP? It has been around one-and-a-half- years. It is not always necessary to accept allegations blindly. Everyone has the right to appeal…I do not want to speak on it”.

The MVA, however, launched a major broadside against the BJP-led NDA dispensation at the Centre.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi's slogan of 'Na khaunga, na khane dunga' (neither will I indulge in corruption, nor allow others to) does not apply to his own people. This is an attempt to cover up the corrupt dealings of leaders allied with the BJP," state Congress president Nana Patole alleged.

“What is happening in the country…the way CBI, ED, IT are acting…why only Ajit Pawar…earlier Praful Patel got clean chit, Nawab Malik got clean chit,” said Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut.

Pawar got the relief from the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, which has dismissed the Income Tax assessment officer appeal against Ajit Pawar, his wife Sunetra Pawar and son Parth Pawar in Jarandeshwar Sahakari Sakar Karkhana (JSSK) at Satara and three other cases of bogus loans and benami properties.