Armed with a 'clean chit', Ajit Pawar to be back as Dy CM

Pawar, nephew of NCP president and Union Minister Sharad Pawar, will be sworn in at Raj Bhavan at 10 am tomorrow, sources close to the leader said.

The dramatic announcement of resignation of Pawar on September 25, in the wake of allegations of corruption in irrigation projects, had plunged the state's Congress-NCP government into a crisis with all other 19 party ministers offering to quit.

Pawar, 53, had resigned after media reports alleged he had arbitrarily awarded irrigation contracts worth over Rs 20,000 crore when he was state's irrigation minister during 1999-2009, before he was elevated as deputy chief minister and handled the plum finance and energy portfolios.

Meanwhile, Opposition BJP and Shiv Sena have reacted sharply to the impending reinduction of Pawar and demanded that he face a probe by a Special Investigation Team.

"If he has guts he should be ready for SIT probe. If he is proved innocent, then he should come back in the cabinet with respect," Khadse told PTI.

He alleged Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan was bringing Pawar back under ally NCP's pressure.

"It is really unfortunate that Chief Minister Chavan who calls himself clean has to re-induct Pawar due to NCP's pressure," Khadse said. (More)