Apart from resigning as the State’s Deputy Chief Minister, Mr. Pawar also quit from his posts of the State’s Minister for Finance and Planning, and Power. He however would continue to remain the Leader of the House in the Assembly.
Mr. Pawar’s resignation comes at a time when allegations of reports his “hurriedly” granting project approvals totaling Rs 20,000 crore during an eight-month period without the mandatory clearance of the governing council of Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation (VIDC) in 2009 surfaced in sections of the media.
Reports alleged that Mr. Pawar had cleared more than 30 projects in the Vidarbha region at exorbitant rates between 2006 and 2009, at a time when held the State Water Resources portfolio.
“The responsibility for this decision is mine alone and no one is to blame for it. I have abdicated my ministerial posts and would henceforth continue as a legislator. I have sounded my seniors’ out on this matter [of his resignation]”, said Mr. Pawar, addressing a stunned gathering of reporters at the Mantralaya.
Reiterating that there was no blemish in expediting the irrigation projects, Mr. Pawar defended the move by stating that cost overruns in projects pending for the last 20 years occurred due to the increase in the costs of raw materials in that period.
Many a times projects had to be prioritized in order to do justice to the drought-afflicted areas, leading to a backlog in the completion of many projects, Mr. Pawar clarified.
Only the topmost leaders of the NCP knew about this decision, Mr. Pawar stated, adding that he had dispatched his resignation to Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan.
Denying that he was pressurised in giving up his post, Mr, Pawar remarked: “Even when people are doing good work, there are efforts to create an atmosphere of suspicion and doubt…If I continued amidst these allegation, then the people of Maharashtra would have accused of clinging on to my post.”
On the question as to why other senior NCP leaders like PWD Minister Chhagan Bhujbal and present Water Resources Minister Sunil Tatkare have not thrown in their towels, Mr. Pawar merely said: “Each one has a different way of dealing with a particular situation.”
Mr. Pawar also backed the expediting of the much-awaited and controversial ‘White Paper’ on Irrigation, stating that he would want the White Paper to be issued as fast as possible so as to end any doubts prevailing in people’s minds.
The paper would be out by the start of the winter session of the State Legislature, Mr. Pawar emphasised.
The issue of the ‘White Paper’ on Irrigation has driven a sharp wedge in the ruling Congress-NCP coalition, with the State Economic Survey 2011-12 unraveling that the state’s irrigation capacity had shown an imperceptible rise of 0.1 per cent despite funds amounting to Rs. 70,000 crore being pumped in the decade between 2000 and 2010.
The fact had prompted Mr. Chavan to direct the Water Resources Department headed by controversial Water Resources Minister and senior NCP leader Sunil Tatkare to issue a White Paper to clear the air on the state of irrigation in the state – a move that has not gone down well with the NCP.
Mr. Tatkare disputed the Economic Survey findings, claiming that the irrigation capacity had risen from 0.1 per cent to 5.17 per cent in the last decade.
Meanwhile, the political climate in the state was rife with speculations of Mr. Pawar’s move being a carefully planned and orchestrated one.
Amid frenzied rumours of the NCP pulling out of the State government, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, speaking to Television channels assured that his party was not bent on destabilising the Maharashtra government.
It's a stunt says BJP
While Mr. Pawar’s lighting move has thrown the Congress-NCP coalition in a tizzy, befuddling even his own Party colleagues, the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena refused to be impressed by his resignation.
“The move is a mere stunt. It is a diversionary tactic…instead of staging this drama, Mr. Pawar should have allowed for the investigation of his colleagues Mr. Bhujbal and Mr. Tatkare,” said senior BJP leader Kirit Somaiya.
Mr. Pawar has recommended the Finance and Planning portfolio to be given to Jayant Patil, while the Power ministry to be given to Rajesh Tope.
Anti- corruption civic bodies like India Against Corruption, however, were jubilant on Mr. Pawar’s resignation.
“The irrigation scam is not just about the money [the scam has crossed Rs. 75000 crore and still counting]. It is about the shameless plunder of the state’s resources to make meaningless projects that only benefit the contractors. It is about blatant violations of every rule in the book…CVC Guidelines, Governor’s Directives, and even the Irrigation Department’s own norms,” said IAC activist Preeti Menon.
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