BJP’s Full-Page Ads Meaningless Without Dropping Charges Against Ajit Pawar: Raut
Mr Raut criticised the BJP for issuing full-page newspaper advertisements mourning Pawar’s death in a plane crash, questioning the party’s intent and calling such symbolic gestures meaningless: Reports
MUMBAI: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut on Thursday said that the BJP’s real tribute to late Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP chief Ajit Pawar would be to withdraw the corruption allegations earlier levelled against him.
Mr Raut criticised the BJP for issuing full-page newspaper advertisements mourning Pawar’s death in a plane crash, questioning the party’s intent and calling such symbolic gestures meaningless.
A day after Ajit Pawar was killed in a tragic aircraft accident near Baramati airport along with four others — including his personal security officer Vidip Jadhav, Sumit Kapur, the pilot-in-command, and co-pilot Samabhavi Pathak — the BJP carried front-page advertisements in leading newspapers to pay tribute to the NCP chief.
While the Ajit Pawar-led NCP is currently a constituent of the BJP-led Mahayuti government in Maharashtra, the BJP had earlier accused him of involvement in an irrigation department scam.
The allegations stemmed from Maharashtra’s 2012 Economic Survey, which stated that the state’s irrigation potential had increased by only 0.1 per cent over a decade despite an expenditure of ₹70,000 crore on irrigation projects. At the time, then Chief Minister and Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan had announced that a white paper would be issued on the spending.
The Shiv Sena and BJP were at the forefront of demands for action against Pawar. However, in subsequent years, Pawar went on to serve as Deputy Chief Minister in governments led by Uddhav Thackeray as well as Devendra Fadnavis.
In a sarcastic post on X in Marathi, Mr Raut said, “The BJP has done something remarkable. It published full-page advertisements to pay tribute to Dada. But what does that achieve? Withdrawing the ₹70,000-crore allegations levelled against Ajit Dada by the BJP — by Prime Minister Modi and Devendra Fadnavis — would be the real tribute to Ajit Pawar.”
The BJP hit back, accusing Mr Raut of politicising a tragedy. “Sanjay Raut’s politics is narrow-minded. Finding politics even in a funeral tribute reflects a Duryodhan-like mentality,” BJP spokesperson Ram Kulkarni said.
