Mumbai, April 21: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Wednesday found himself on the defensive over an allegation that he had misused his office to allot a prime plot of Government land to a private company in which he had a financial stake.
Reacting to reports in a section of electronic and print media, Pawar admitted in the State Assembly here that he had in May 2005 bought 8,000 shares of AG Marcantile, a firm to which he is alleged to have allotted three acres of prime land near Karjat in the adjoining Raigad district for tourism development. He, however, hastened to add that he had divested all the shares eight months later.
Maintaining that he had not been holding any shares in AG Marcantile at the time of allotment of land to the private firm, Pawar said, “I have no links with the company AG Mercantile and have no shares in the company”.
Pawar also went onto refute another allegation that he had not disclosed the shares held by him in AG Marcantile in his affidavit filed along with his nomination for the 2009 Maharashtra Assembly polls. “I held no shares during subsequent elections (held in 2009), so there was no question of disclosing the same in my poll affidavit,” the DCM said.
Quoting some documents, the news reports had, among other things, alleged that Pawar had allotted three acres of prime land near Karjat to AG Marcantile, as a quid pro quo arrangement under which the private firm would help”strengthen” the nearby Bhilavi dam in lieu of the largesse.
AG Mercantile was given a contract to repair the dam in 2007 when Ajit Pawar, nephew of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, was the State Irrigation Minister.
According to reports, Pawar continues to be one of the directors of AG Marcantile and that he holds 8,800 shares out of the total 25,000 shares in the company. Interestingly enough, joint promoter of controversial DB Realty, Vinod Goenka is also one of the directors of AG Marcantile, while one little-known Gayatri Pant Pardeshi is the second-largest share holder in the company, with as many as 7,200 shares. There are about 39 stake holders in the company.
Ajit Pawar’s denial about his links with AG Marcantile comes days after his uncle and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar denied that he had any stake in or link with the real estate and telecom companies owned by 2 G scam accused Shahid Balwa, who incidentally is the joint business partner with Vinod Goenka in DB Reality. Sr Pawar had, however, said he had known Vinod Goenka’s father.
Sr Pawar’s statement had come after a newspaper reported that corporate lobbyist Niira Radia had told the CBI that while she had no documentary evidence to prove it, she believed that Pawar was a “key player” in Balwa’s real estate company, DB Realty.
–IANS–