Rohit Pawar intensifies attack on Praful Patel, questions his silence

Opposition NCP-SP MLA Rohit Pawar on Monday intensified his attack on ruling Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) working president Praful Patel over his alleged relations with VSR Ventures, stating that Patel attended the wedding of the firm’s owner VK Singh’s son and knew that Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has close relations with Singh. VSR Ventures operated the aircraft that crashed on January 28, killing then deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar.

“Why did Praful Patel keep it hidden from the public that he knew how close was VSR Ventures and TDP leaders? Why is it that he never informed about it since the death of Ajit Pawar? Had Praful Patel been so close to Ajit dada, he should have called out the delay in investigation of VSR Ventures and spilled the beans about its TDP connections. The very fact that he is not doing so, itself creates a cloud of suspicion,” said Rohit Pawar.

Rohit Pawar has been alleging that the VSR ventures is not being probed by the DGCA as Union Civil Aviation Ministry is led by K Rammohan Naidu from the TDP and had sought the removal of the minister temporarily for an impartial probe.

Rohit has alleged that NCP working president Praful Patel, along with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and the Union minister were among those who attended the wedding of Rohit Singh. “There was another big leader from Madhya Pradesh as well. If so many big politicians are queueing up for the wedding of a such a small businessman, how can anyone expect a fair probe?” he asked.

Ruling NCP’s chief whip and MLA Anil Patil denied the allegations by Pawar, saying, “Patel never attended the wedding of this person. Rohit Pawar should stop making baseless allegations and instead present trustworthy evidences.”