Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, in an interview to ANI on Friday, retracted his statement from two days ago that industrialist Gautam Adani was present at key meetings regarding government formation in Maharashtra after state Assembly elections in 2019.
“In state government formation, there is no role of an industrialist,” said Ajit Pawar. “Sometimes we are so busy, and by mistake, I made a statement.”
Ajit Pawar had earlier told The News Minute-Newslaundry that top leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party, including Amit Shah and Devendra Fadnavis, and the undivided Nationalist Congress Party, including Sharad Pawar and Praful Patel, were at the meetings along with Adani.
In response to his nephew’s comments, Sharad Pawar on Thursday confirmed that Adani had hosted a dinner at his New Delhi residence but did not participate in the political discussions.
Sharad Pawar added that some leaders facing cases from central agencies were assured that their cases would be dropped if they aligned with the BJP in 2019. Though initially sceptical, he attended the meeting after being urged by colleagues to hear directly from Shah, he claimed.
On Friday, the deputy chief minister stated that Adani did not attend the meetings, though they were held at the businessman’s guest house. When asked if he had been pressured to clarify his earlier statement, Ajit Pawar said he does not succumb to pressure.
He also noted that his actions, of allying with the BJP at the time, had his uncle and party founder Sharad Pawar’s knowledge and approval. Ajit Pawar said he had acted as a loyal party member.
Meanwhile, Fadnavis claimed in an interview to The Hindu on Friday that the 2019 meeting referred to by Ajit Pawar had taken place, but not at Adani’s residence.
Fadnavis said: “There was a meeting which took place. But it was not at Gautam Adani’s residence. Amit Shah, Sharad Pawar, Ajit Pawar, Praful Patel and I were present at the meeting. It took place in Delhi, at a neutral venue…The meeting was held to bring the BJP and NCP together in power.”
The purported dinner was held before Ajit Pawar and Fadnavis were sworn in as deputy chief minister and chief minister, respectively, in a short-lived government that lasted 80 hours.
Ajit Pawar then returned to the Nationalist Congress Party, which formed the state’s Maha Vikas Aghadi government with the undivided Shiv Sena and the Congress were part of the alliance.
The coalition government collapsed in June 2022 when a group of Shiv Sena MLAs led by now-Chief Minister Eknath Shinde rebelled and formed the government with the BJP. This split the Shiv Sena into two factions, with one led by Uddhav Thackeray and the other by Shinde.
A year later, Ajit Pawar, along with several Nationalist Congress Party MLAs, also joined the ruling coalition. He became deputy chief minister along with Fadnavis. This split the Nationalist Congress Party, with one faction supporting his uncle Sharad Pawar and the other backing Ajit Pawar.
In the interview to The News Minute-Newslaundry, Ajit Pawar was asked why Sharad Pawar did not follow through with his defection to the BJP.
“Pawar Saheb is a leader whose mind no one in the world can read. Not even our aunty or our Supriya Sule [Sharad Pawar’s daughter Lok Sabha MP],” said Ajit Pawar.