Maharashtra Irrigation Scam: Opposition alleges state govt of suppression

Opposition in Maharashtra accused the Devendra Fadnavis-led state government of suppressing the opposition in the garb of Rs 35,000 crore Maharashtra irrigation scam case.

"The matter is in court, and I do not want to comment on it. But, the government is trying to suppress the opposition. The government has given a clean chit to their own ministers who have corruption charges against them," said S Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, the leader of opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly.

The development came after Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) informed the Bombay High Court that former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar had a role in the Rs 70,000 crore scam.

Pawar, who belongs to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), along with others, was in-charge of Maharashtra's irrigation department when Congress-NCP coalition government was in power in the state from 1999 to 2014. That was a period during which the scam, relating to alleged irregularities in various irrigation projects, took place.

Pawar, speaking to ANI, said that he has been cooperating with the authorities in the case and will continue to do so.

"I have cooperated with the inquiry and I will continue to cooperate with it. Since the judicial proceedings have begun, I will not comment on it. We have a lot of issues to address and discuss over in the assembly," Pawar said.

An affidavit was filed by the Director General of Anti-Corruption Bureau, Sanjay Barve on November 26, alleging that Ajit Pawar was responsible for the multi-crore irrigation scam of projects undertaken by the Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation, Nagpur.

Speaking to ANI, Irrigation Minister of Maharashtra, Girish Mahajan said, "We have given full autonomy to the ACB. In the affidavit, it has pointed out about the mobilization of funds and files being directly going to the secretariat without following the procedure.