white paper on irrigation – The Metrognome

While Aam Aadmi Party’s ‘black paper’ on Maha irrigation irregularities tears into Sunil Tatkare, it says nothing on Ajit Pawar.

by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Yesterday was clearly Ajit Pawar’s day. The decks were cleared for his return to the Deputy Chief Minister’s post he resigned from on September this year, owing to his name being mired in alleged irregularities in the irrigation sector, and on the other hand, the ‘black paper’ submitted by the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) vehemently tore into Water Resources Minister (WRD) Sunil Tatkare, but did not name Ajit Pawar.

The AAP presented its black paper to State Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan yesterday, following which, Chavan had a meeting with the party’s activists Anjali Damania and Praful Vora, among others. In the paper, AAP has called the white paper on irrigation brought out by the Tatkare-led WRD a “total farce” and demanded for Tatkare’s resignation, but does not name Ajit Pawar anywhere.

Like the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the AAP has also demanded for an SIT-level probe in the matter.

In black and white

In its black paper, AAP has countered almost all of the white paper’s claims, starting with the area under irrigation in the State. While the white paper claims that the area under irrigation increased by 5.17 per cent from 2001 to 2010, the black paper calls this as an attempt to mislead people.

Further, the black paper says that water was illegally diverted from irrigation projects to non-irrigation purposes, and that there were plans to approve 71 new water-intensive thermal power projects in the suicide-prone districts of Vidarbha.

The black paper blames the WRD for rampant corruption and violation, and calls for Tatkare’s resignation, an SIT probe in the irrigation scam and action against politicians, officials and contractors responsible for the mess, apart from demanding an immediate stop on projects that have committed violations. The paper also criticises Chavan, adding that the white paper presented by the WRD to the Government was merely a ‘status paper’ that toed the coalition politics line.

AAP will most likely bring out another black paper on irrigation soon.

(Picture courtesy forbesindia.com)

Ajit Pawar returns?

Two months ago, Ajit Pawar resigned as the State’s Deputy Chief Minister after allegations of corruption. Is he returning soon?

by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

A series of scams and financial irregularities committed by the State in irrigation led to the September 25 resignation of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. Yesterday, a white paper on irrigation was placed before the State Government, and it does not mention any of the irregularities committed by the Water Resources Department, that was headed by Pawar. With just days to go before the Winter Session of the State Legislature takes place in Nagpur, the big question is:

Is Ajit Pawar coming back?

Pawar, who belongs to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and is nephew to NCP chief Sharad Pawar, is said to be desperate for a comeback, but the Government will have to play its cards right, especially with the Session coming up on December 11. There were talks in the NCP camp of Pawar’s comeback even before the white paper meeting took place last evening. It is also doubly suspicious that the white paper seemingly skirts all issues of corruption and merely lists the projects approved by the State in the last decade. The fact – and this was what made Pawar resign this year – that as much as Rs 35,000 crore has reportedly been siphoned off by the politician-contractor nexus in dud irrigation projects in the last 10 years, finds not the remotest mention in the white paper.

The NCP is reportedly already proclaiming that the reentry of Ajit Pawar into the State’s politics, in an official capacity, is only a matter of time, and that the timing would be decided by Sharad Pawar. However, any haste in the matter will reflect badly on the Government, say observers.

With a very ‘white’ white paper presented, and which glosses over any wrongdoing on the part of politicians and State bureaucrats, it seems that the entire exercise will only serve to bring Aijt Pawar back.

(Picture courtesy hindustantimes.com)