3 min readMumbaiNov 13, 2024 02:35 PM IST
First published on: Nov 12, 2024 at 03:59 PM IST
IN WHAT may add fuel to the Opposition’s allegations of Gautam Adani holding undue influence in the Modi government, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has claimed that the industrialist was part of government formation talks including top BJP and NCP leaders “five years ago”.
Addressing the issue of his short-lived 2019 “rebellion” to form a government with the BJP, before he returned to the NCP, Ajit told The News Minute and Newslaundry in an interview: “Everybody knows where the meeting took place… Everyone was there. Let me tell you again. Amit Shah was there, Gautam Adani was there, Praful Patel was there, Devendra Fadnavis was there, Ajit Pawar was there, Pawar Saheb (Sharad Pawar) was there.”
He went on to reiterate his claim that he acted with full knowledge of Pawar Senior in going with the BJP at the time, and as “a party worker”, followed his leader.
Among the first to react to Ajit’s Adani claims was Rajya Sabha MP and Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi, who posted on X, “As per an interview given to a digital platform by a senior minister in the Cabinet, Gautam Adani has sat through in meetings to decide how to get BJP to power in Maharashtra by trying to fix unlikely alliances. It raises some serious questions: Is he a BJP authorised negotiator? Has he been given the responsibility to fix alliances? Why is a businessman so keenly and closely working to bring BJP to power at any cost in Maharashtra?” The Sena (UBT) is an ally of the Sharad Pawar-led faction of the NCP.
Asked about the meeting, Sharad Pawar’s daughter and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) MP Supriya Sule claimed she didn’t know of such a meeting. “Let me be very clear that I have absolutely no knowledge of any such meeting of the attendees which he (Ajit) has mentioned in the interview,” Sule said.
While the Congress has been at the forefront in attacking Adani, and alleging his proximity to the Modi government, a spokesperson for the party said it had no comments to offer on the matter. Sources said the Congress did not want to ruffle Sharad Pawar.
A spokesperson for the Adani Group also declined comment when approached.
The BJP was silent on the matter officially, but a party source contested Ajit’s claims on one specified ground. He said that while Ajit alleged the meeting took place five years ago, “it actually happened in 2017”.
There was a BJP-Shiv Sena (then united) government in power in Maharashtra in 2017, and a BJP government at the Centre.
In 2019, the period Ajit talked about in his interview, the BJP and Shiv Sena had fallen out after the Assembly election results over the question of chief ministership. In the vacuum that followed, Ajit Pawar, then a part of the united NCP, had sprung up by the side of BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis and offered support.
In a controversial early morning swearing-in ceremony, Ajit had taken oath as Deputy Chief Minister and Fadnavis as CM. But within 80 hours, the government had fallen, with Ajit going back to the NCP and Sharad Pawar.
Asked why his uncle Sharad Pawar did not crossover, Ajit said, "Sharad Pawar is the kind of person whose mind can never be predicted.." (File photo) 
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