Mumbai: It has been four days since Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on money laundering charges but the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar is unusually quiet and has not reacted so far. Pawar’s silence has raised eyebrows in political circles as the leader always maintained that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre is misusing the central agencies to harass political opponents.
Party leaders stand divided over this uncommon phenomenon. A section of NCP leaders believes that Pawar is observing the situation and will speak at the right time, while some others opined that he is treading cautiously in the backdrop of ED action against the Gandhi family.
Pawar’s silence also led to speculation that NCP may join hands with the BJP as a faction in the party always wanted to. Notably, in 2014, NCP declared unsolicited support to stabilise the Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP government in the state. However, he is also the one who, four months ago, met the prime minister to complain against ED’s action after the central agency attached the properties of Raut and his family members in Mumbai.
“Pawar told the prime minister that the opposition leaders should not be targeted out of political vendetta. To this, the prime minister replied that Raut will not be targeted but the law will take its own course and if Raut has done something illegal then he will have to face the action,” said a party insider.
“Pawar also told Raut that this is what the prime minister has said and he (Sanjay Raut) will have to face the action. This means he was aware of what is going to happen with Sanjay Raut,” he added.
Mahesh Tapase, chief spokesperson, NCP said the party leaders have already taken a stand over Raut’s arrest. “It was Pawar who directly went to meet PM Modi and complained that an opposition MP is being harassed for opposing the government’s decision. Since Raut’s arrest, many NCP leaders in Maharashtra including me have openly expressed our opinion. We still believe that the ED action is to silence the voice of Sanjay Raut who is a big critic of the BJP,” Tapase said.
On April 6, after he met with the prime minister in Parliament, Pawar said he flagged the issues of central agencies targeting Raut. “On what basis was action taken against Sanjay Raut? This is injustice. What was the provocation? Just because he is making some statements and criticisms does not mean action should be taken against him. What was the need,” the former union minister said after meeting the PM.
“Pawar never jumps the gun and takes his own time to express his opinions. This time also he is doing the same,” said a party leader, wishing not to be named.
“There may be a possibility that he is observing the ED action against the Gandhi family and is busy making his own plans before coming to the battlefield as there is a speculation that one of them may be arrested,” another NCP office bearer said.
On Sunday, the leader of opposition and senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar also surprised everyone by saying that only Sanjay Raut can tell the people why the enforcement directorate is after him and the central agencies have all power to probe the cases as they are independent in nature.
“The central agencies are independent authorities and have powers to probe the cases be it IT (Income Tax), CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation), ED or state government’s ACB (Anti-Corruption Bureau), CID (Crime Investigation Department) etc. If they receive any complaint, they have all the right to investigate the matter. In this case, only (Sanjay) Raut saheb can tell us exactly what has happened and why are they (ED) coming to him again and again,” Pawar told reporters in Beed.
Pawar did not respond to calls and text message.
