‘Ajit was blackmailed… he has put Fadnavis in bigger trouble’: Jayant Patil

In an exclusive interview with The Indian Express, Patil said, “You (Fadnavis) made an allegation against Ajit Pawar while in opposition, probed him after coming to power and showed him the file accusing R R Patil. It means that efforts had been ongoing to fuel the infighting in our party since then. Secondly, by showing him the file, Ajit Pawar was blackmailed for ten years. It shows why again and again he wanted to go to the BJP. Ajit Pawar was blackmailed.”

Patil added that Ajit Pawar’s statement has put Devendra Fadnavis in bigger trouble by exposing his operating style.

“I think he (Ajit Pawar) himself is cornered because of it. But he has put Devendra Fadnavis in more trouble. It exposed the operating style of Fadnavis as well as the relationship of the two in the past ten years. I would have understood had he shown the file to the leader of the opposition. But he (Ajit Pawar) was merely an opposition MLA.”

Addressing a poll campaign rally at Sangli district’s Tasgaon Assembly seat, Pawar, on October 29, said that after the BJP won the 2014 Assembly polls, Fadnavis, who took over as CM, showed him a file signed by R R Patil which recommended an open inquiry against him in the case by ACB.

“Talking against a person who cannot defend himself now is terribly wrong. He can criticise us for not joining him, but R R Patil was not alive when the party split. How can he drag his name? Why after nine years? It just shows that he (Ajit) can talk anything about any person, irrespective of someone working with him for so many years,” Patil said .

In the interview, he spoke on issues ranging from speculations of disagreement within the MVA to impact of Maratha-OBC agitations on polls.