Pawar pledges party's support to Bhujbal

Breaking his silence over the graft probe against his party colleague Chhagan Bhujbal, NCP chief Sharad Pawar today defended the former deputy chief minister, saying the investigations are not being conducted in a "fair" manner by the Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP government.
Interestingly, Pawar had yesterday said that it would be inappropriate for him to comment on the issue in the view of the ongoing ACB probe into it. His remarks apparently displeased Bhujbal.
Looking for the party's support amid mounting troubles, Bhujbal called on Pawar earlier in the day and told him that the ongoing raids at his residential and office premises in different parts of the state were "unfair and unjust".

"The FIRs have been filed on wrong allegations. At least I should have been given a chance to explain my side. The investigating agencies should have probed whether there was substance in the allegations before going ahead with filing of FIRs," Bhujbal said.
Bhujbal said he had brief the party supremo in detail about the action against him and held that he was being unfairly targetted.
"Pawar Saheb took details of all cases on which FIRs have been filed and discussed the issue with me," he added.

Giving some solace to Bhujbal, Pawar said the ACB probe against his colleague was not conducted in a fair manner and the investigators seem to be more interested in "publicity".

"Bhujbal is our colleague and we will stand by him without interfering in the probe. We would help him in every way," Pawar said.
"Instead of conducting a fair probe, the investigators are more interested in leaking information to the media. This is surprising. I have handled the Home department and this is not the manner in which investigation is done," he told reporters.
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis is holding the Home portfolio.
Observing that Bhujbal has a substance in his defence, Pawar said, "All decisions for which Bhujbal is being held accountable were taken by the Cabinet. Cabinet decisions are decisions of the government. The way details of the probe are being leaked is surprising and this is objectionable and not a sign of a good probe," he said and asked the Chief Minister to look into it.

He also accused ACB officers of "exaggerating" the information on the valuation of Bhujbal's properties leaked out to media.
Meanwhile, the Bombay High Court today directed the ACB to complete its probe into the allegations of money laundering and land grabbing against Bhujbal and submit a final report in two months.