New Delhi:
Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has denied that he has any stake in or link to the real estate and telecom companies owned by Shahid Balwa, who is now in jail.
(Read: Who is Shahid Balwa?)Mr Pawar's statement comes after a newspaper reported that corporate lobbyist Niira Radia has told the CBI that while she has no documentary evidence to prove it, she believes that Mr Pawar is a "key player" in Mr Balwa's real estate company, DB Realty.
"What I saw in TV and newspapers...she is saying has not got any proof...this is her perception. I want to make one thing absolutely clear...in this realty and telecom...we have no relations...I have not one naya paisa in the company," said Mr Pawar to NDTV today.
Mr Balwa has emerged as a central player in the country's largest scam - the 2G spectrum scam. He was the main promoter for DB Realty and Swan Telecom, which was allegedly one of the major beneficiaries of the scam. Mr Balwa has been arrested for allegedly routing a 200-crore kickback to former Telecom Minister A Raja, who is also in jail for selling spectrum and mobile network licenses at thruway prices in 2008 to Swan and other companies that were ineligible.
The Opposition has repeatedly confronted Mr Pawar and his party, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), for close ties to Mr Balwa. In Maharashtra, the BJP said that Mr Pawar has used planes and helicopters owned by Mr Balwa. "As party President on many occasions, we hire aircraft... and we hired their aircraft. We paid money by cheque...it is not the only company we have used for helicopters," said the minister.
The Agriculture Minister reiterated today that he knows Mr Balwa's business partner, Vinod Goenka, through his father, who operates several businesses including a mill in Mr Pawar's constituency of Baramati.