Activist Anjali Damania on Wednesday reiterated her demand that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis ask Ajit Pawar to resign as the state’s Deputy Chief Minister and Pune Guardian Minister in view of his son’s alleged involvement in the Rs 300 crore Mundhwa land deal. NCP said the state government has already appointed a committee to probe the entire deal and that the truth will come out of it.
“If the Chief Minister fails to ask Ajit Pawar to step down, then I will approach the Union Home Minister to press my demand,” Damania added.
Parth Pawar, the elder son of Ajit Pawar, owns Amadea Enterprises LLP, which purchased the 40 acre government land in Mundhwa area of Pune for Rs 300 crore when its actually market value was stated to be Rs 1,800 crore. Instead of paying Rs 21 crore as stamp duty executing the sale agreeement, the firm paid only Rs 500 after seeking exemption.
Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, Damania said she has sent all relevant proof in connection to the land deal to Shah’s office. “I am going to seek his appointment… If I do not get the appointment, I will sit outside his office,” she said.
Damania alleged that Amadea Enterprises had lied at every stage. “The firm claimed that it wanted to do data mining at the land site. Through it, the company said it would provide services to the IT sector and cyber security. This was mentioned in the lease deed. The company had said that its investment was of Rs 98 lakh and therefore a Letter of Intent should be provided. After getting the Letter of Intent, the firm sought exemption on stamp duty. It finally paid only Rs 500 stamp duty when they should have actually paid Rs 21 crore.”
Damania also targeted Pune district collector Jitendra Dudi. “The Mundhwa land was sold fraudulently to Amadea Enterprises. The district collector knew about it but did not take any action,” she said.
Damania said the central government had asked the collector to immediately intervene in the matter.
“The government had told him, ‘You should immediately intervene in this matter,’ however, the district collector did nothing,” she alleged.
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When asked about the activist’s allegations, the collector said, “We have pro-actively taken steps in this matter. After the Botanical Garden of India had informed us that the tehsildar had told them to vacate their land and hand it over to the firm, we had immediately intervened in this matter and action was proposed against the tehsildar.”
Damania again reiterated her demand that the Special Investigation Team formed by the state government should be dissolved as five of its six members belong to Pune where Ajit Pawar is the guardian minister.
Reacting to the allegations made by Damania, NCP state president Sunil Tatkare told The Indian Express, “The Deputy Chief Minister has already clarified this matter… Besides, the state government has already appointed a committee to probe the matter. Let the truth come out… The activist has a right to make a demand.”
