Mumbai: Soon after Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar resigned on Tuesday evening, all his 19 fellow Nationalist Congress Party ministers in the coalition state government sent resignation letters too. Unlike, Mr Pawar though, the rest of the ministers sent their letters to the NCP's Maharashtra state president, Madhukar Pichad, amid reports that a Sharad Pawar versus Ajit Pawar, uncle versus nephew, internal power struggle is playing out alongside the less secret strained NCP-Congress ties.
NCP leaders like Praful Patel have stoutly denied this, but the ministers resigning minutes after Sharad Pawar, who heads the NCP, categorically said that there would be no more resignations after his nephew's, has fuelled the speculation. NCP leader Majeed Menon hastened to explain,"The resignation is a token to express solidarity with the tallest leader of the party in the state Ajit Pawar who is being victimised. There is absolutely no defiance, whatever Mr Sharad Pawar has decided Maharashtra ministers will follow."
Sharad Pawar stressed that his party supported what he called his nephew's independent decision, but also sought to make clear that this will not affect ties with the Congress. He told NDTV no one else will be "permitted" to resign. The resignation of the ministers came soon after. Mr Pawar's second in command, Praful Patel, rubbished all talk about a rift between the Pawars saying, "Ajit Pawar's decision is not a drama. The decision is well thought out and the party supports him completely."
But there were more gaps. While both Mr Pawar and Mr Patel said Mr Ajit Pawar's was a well thought out decision they endorsed, sources close to Chief Minister Chavan of the Congress said he was taken aback at the "unexpected" resignation. They said the Maharashtra Chief Minister had held discussions over one and a half hours with Sharad Pawar in Delhi on Monday, where the latter reportedly expressed worry about an inquiry into the alleged irrigation scam. Mr Chavan who had recently announced a white paper on irrigation much to the NCP's chagrin, conveyed to Mr Pawar that in the age of RTI, facts could not be hidden, the sources said.
The allegations Ajit Pawar referred to are said to be at the core of tension between the two partners recently. Mr Chavan declared that his government will present a 'white paper' on what the state had spent on irrigation in the last 10 years after the Opposition alleged that Maharashtra spent over 70,000 crores in that period but added only 0.1 per cent to the area under irrigation. Mr Pawar was the state's water resources minister between 1999 and 2009.
The Opposition has also demanded a CBI inquiry into the alleged scam. The accusations Mr Pawar faces include granting about 32 contracts within three months, worth Rs 13,500 crores, in the state's Vidarbha region at high rates. The Opposition alleges that a change in tender processes meant that all tenders of over a crore required his signature. It has also been alleged that Mr Pawar overruled officials who tried to stop this. The Vidarbha region has come to be known for desperate and impoverished, debt-ridden farmers committing suicide. A failed monsoon this year has highlighted the problem of faulty canals that do not work throughout the region.
It is not the BJP that bothers the NCP. It is the Maharashtra Chief Minister, who has been involved in a zealous clean-up drive that has left him distinctly unpopular with the partner. Mr Chavan had in July asked for a complete statement of accounts on irrigation for the last decade. The NCP had then sought that Ajit Pawar's term to be exempt from the inquiry.
Mr Pawar wrote a note to the PM and Congress president Sonia Gandhi cataloguing his party's grievances and talked tough. Mr Patel publicly accused the Congress of misreporting facts of the dispute. The crisis blew over in the end, with the NCP abandoning its threat to quit the government after the Congress agreed to set up a coordination committee to ensure its allies were consulted and involved in important decisions.
NCP leaders like Praful Patel have stoutly denied this, but the ministers resigning minutes after Sharad Pawar, who heads the NCP, categorically said that there would be no more resignations after his nephew's, has fuelled the speculation. NCP leader Majeed Menon hastened to explain,"The resignation is a token to express solidarity with the tallest leader of the party in the state Ajit Pawar who is being victimised. There is absolutely no defiance, whatever Mr Sharad Pawar has decided Maharashtra ministers will follow."
Sharad Pawar stressed that his party supported what he called his nephew's independent decision, but also sought to make clear that this will not affect ties with the Congress. He told NDTV no one else will be "permitted" to resign. The resignation of the ministers came soon after. Mr Pawar's second in command, Praful Patel, rubbished all talk about a rift between the Pawars saying, "Ajit Pawar's decision is not a drama. The decision is well thought out and the party supports him completely."
But there were more gaps. While both Mr Pawar and Mr Patel said Mr Ajit Pawar's was a well thought out decision they endorsed, sources close to Chief Minister Chavan of the Congress said he was taken aback at the "unexpected" resignation. They said the Maharashtra Chief Minister had held discussions over one and a half hours with Sharad Pawar in Delhi on Monday, where the latter reportedly expressed worry about an inquiry into the alleged irrigation scam. Mr Chavan who had recently announced a white paper on irrigation much to the NCP's chagrin, conveyed to Mr Pawar that in the age of RTI, facts could not be hidden, the sources said.
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The allegations Ajit Pawar referred to are said to be at the core of tension between the two partners recently. Mr Chavan declared that his government will present a 'white paper' on what the state had spent on irrigation in the last 10 years after the Opposition alleged that Maharashtra spent over 70,000 crores in that period but added only 0.1 per cent to the area under irrigation. Mr Pawar was the state's water resources minister between 1999 and 2009.
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The Opposition has also demanded a CBI inquiry into the alleged scam. The accusations Mr Pawar faces include granting about 32 contracts within three months, worth Rs 13,500 crores, in the state's Vidarbha region at high rates. The Opposition alleges that a change in tender processes meant that all tenders of over a crore required his signature. It has also been alleged that Mr Pawar overruled officials who tried to stop this. The Vidarbha region has come to be known for desperate and impoverished, debt-ridden farmers committing suicide. A failed monsoon this year has highlighted the problem of faulty canals that do not work throughout the region.
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It is not the BJP that bothers the NCP. It is the Maharashtra Chief Minister, who has been involved in a zealous clean-up drive that has left him distinctly unpopular with the partner. Mr Chavan had in July asked for a complete statement of accounts on irrigation for the last decade. The NCP had then sought that Ajit Pawar's term to be exempt from the inquiry.
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Mr Pawar wrote a note to the PM and Congress president Sonia Gandhi cataloguing his party's grievances and talked tough. Mr Patel publicly accused the Congress of misreporting facts of the dispute. The crisis blew over in the end, with the NCP abandoning its threat to quit the government after the Congress agreed to set up a coordination committee to ensure its allies were consulted and involved in important decisions.
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