AAP criticises Thackeray over induction of Ajit Pawar as dy CM

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday invoked alleged irrigation scam that occurred during the tenure of previous Congress-NCP government to allege that the new Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) dispensation has given a "free run to the corrupt elements".

AAP leader Preeti Sharma Menon said there seems no hope for halting corruption or punishing the corrupt.

"If priorities are defined by one's actions, then surely the present Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA alliance - Shiv Sena-Cong-NCP Govt, does not seem to be serious on anti-corruption. The corrupt elements seem to be given a free run," she said in a statement.

Sharma Menon also took aim at deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar snd cabinet minister Chhagan Bhujbal over charges of corruption.

"At a time, when Ajit Pawar is still the prime accused in the Rs 70,000 crore irrigation scam which crippled the already stressed agrarian sector, distraught farmers and which is being probed by a court-monitored SIT and the matter is still subjudice," she said.

The AAP leader said Pawar's induction as deputy CM "leaves little to doubt as to Maharashtra government's intention to prosecute him for his alleged wholesale corruption".

NCP leader Bhujbal is currently out on bail in a money laundering case.

In an affidavit filed in the Bombay High Court, the ACB DG Parambir Singh had given a clean chit to Ajit Pawar in connection with the Vidarbha irrigation scam.

The affidavit stated: "In regards to respondent no. 7, Ajit Pawar, no criminality had been found".