No irregularities in sale of sugar mill: Ajit Pawar
Without naming Kirit Somaiya, Ajit Pawar stated that some persons are trying to mislead people by making “baseless” accusations regarding irregularities in sale of sugar mills again and again
PUNE Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, in Pune on Friday, read out a list of the sugar mills sold by the Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank (MSCB) and claimed that there were no irregularities with the selling procedure of the Jarandeshwar Sahakari Karkhana in 2010 in particular.
This came against the backdrop of allegations made by Kirit Somaiya of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), that he (Ajit Pawar) bought the Jarandeshwar sugar mill with the help of shell companies.
Without naming Somaiya, Pawar stated that some persons are trying to mislead people by making “baseless” accusations again and again.
“People didn’t know the details. Now I have put forward every fact before you. Some mislead people by making false accusations and try to defame and target a person. I have shown the SC order and high court orders on this matter. Many agencies have done inquiries and nothing has been found,” said Ajit Pawar.
Earlier in Mumbai, high drama had unfolded on Wednesday at the zonal office of the ED as Kirit Somaiya reached to give additional information against Ajit Pawar. NCP workers had staged a protest. While talking about this issue Pawar had warned on Thursday that he would list out transactions of the other sugar mills in Maharashtra which were sold.
Speaking in Pune, Pawar also mentioned that there were some sugar factories which were sold at the a price of Rs3-4 crore. “While selling Jarandeshwar sugar mill, MSCB followed all due procedures. About 12-15 companies had applied in the tendering process. The highest bid was offered by Guru Commodity situated in Mumbai for ₹66 crore, and the mill was sold at this price. Other mills were also purchased by various companies,” said Pawar.