Mumbai, March 25 NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar alleged on Wednesday that senior leaders Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare made a "premeditated" attempt to seize control of the NCP following the sudden death of Ajit Pawar in January by giving sweeping powers to its working president.
Speaking to reporters here, Rohit claimed that 18 days after the death of Ajit Pawar on January 28, Patel, Tatkare, and Brijmohan Srivastava wrote to the Election Commission of India, stating that the party constitution had been amended and requesting that all powers be handed to the working president. Patel was the working president at that time.
However, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar subsequently wrote to the poll panel, asking it to disregard any such correspondence during the transition period (of her taking charge as NCP president) after her husband's demise, Rohit said at a press conference here.
"Neither Sunetra Pawar nor (her elder son) Parth Pawar were informed about this. After becoming the national president, Sunetra Pawar appeared to have learned of this, and wrote to the ECI requesting that any correspondence between January 28 and her assuming charge should not be considered," he claimed.
He also displayed the letters before the media.
Asked for a reaction, an NCP leader, who did not wish to be named, claimed that Rohit Pawar was trying to create confusion.
Ajit Pawar himself had approved the arrangement where Patel, as national working president, was authorised to communicate with the courts and the Election Commission, said the leader.
Ajit Pawar, the then deputy CM and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) head, died in a plane crash near Baramati airstrip in Pune district on January 28. He was heading the faction of the NCP while his uncle and former union minister and state chief minister Sharad Pawar was heading NCP(SP).
Four days after his death, Sunetra Pawar was sworn in as the deputy CM and was elected the new national president of the NCP on February 26.
As per Rohit Pawar, Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare (both NCP MPs) and Brijmohan Srivastava wrote to the ECI on February 16, "falsely" claiming that the party constitution had been amended, and requesting that all powers be handed to the working president.
He cited documents dated March 10 and February 26, purportedly submitted to the ECI with signatures of Patel and Tatkare. These documents stated that in the absence of a national president, all authority would vest in the national working president, Rohit claimed.
Demanding a criminal investigation, the legislator asked whether the entire episode – from the alleged letters to the ECI to attempts to control the party – was part of a larger conspiracy.
The NCP (SP) MLA also termed as "suspicious" the statements made by Union minister Piyush Goyal, who first said that Praful Patel had become NCP president but clarified later that his statement was based on incorrect information.
There had been a "premeditated plan" hatched by certain leaders to wrest control of the NCP, Rohit Pawar alleged.
Some BJP leaders also exerted pressure during this period to stall a proposed press conference by Ajit Pawar's younger son Jay, he claimed.
Rohit also reiterated his allegation that some people were trying to "protect" VSR Aviation which operated the Learjet 45 aircraft that crashed on January 28 with Ajit Pawar and four others on board.
The firm received Rs 80 to 90 crore (towards its services from the government) even after the accident, he claimed.
Referring to his recent meeting with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Rohit said he was advised to file his complaint in connection with Ajit Pawar's death in a state where he would get justice. He then got registered a 'zero FIR' at Bengaluru in Karnataka, he added.
Police can register a zero First Information Report when a crime has not taken place under their jurisdiction, and transfer it to the appropriate police station.
The NCP (SP) MLA, meanwhile, also claimed that instructions had been given not to raise the Baramati air crash in the ongoing Budget session of the Maharashtra legislature. As a result, most MLAs remained silent over the issue.
He also alleged that there were attempts to conduct "black magic" rituals outside Ajit Pawar's residence before his death, possibly involving a self-styled godman from Nashik who is now arrested in a rape case.