Sapkal rakes up Ajit Pawar’s remarks to demand Mohol’s resignation

Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal on Saturday demanded the resignation of Union minister Murlidhar Mohol, alleging his role in the issuance of a passport to a known criminal, a charge Mohol has already denied.

Sapkal referred to Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s press conference on Friday to attack Mohol.  Pawar had justified tickets for candidates with criminal backgrounds for the upcoming civic polls, claiming he himself faced allegations of orchestrating a Rs 70,000-crore irrigation scam and asserted no one was a criminal until proved guilty. The comments came after Mohol slammed Pawar’s NCP for giving tickets to persons with criminal links.

In an apparent reference to gangster Nilesh Ghaywal, who fled the country amid a firing case against him, Pawar asked who helped the person to escape. The Opposition has accused Mohol of playing a role in the issuance of a passport to Ghaywal, though the BJP leader has already rejected the charge.

“It is a matter of grave concern for national security that a person with a known criminal history could obtain a passport through political influence. This is a direct violation of the Passport Act, 1967,” Sapkal said, referring to Pawar’s statement.

Sapkal demanded that Mohol, the Minister of State for Civil Aviation and Cooperation, resign from his position immediately and called for a high-level probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to uncover the “political-criminal nexus”.

Those who once called Pawar the “king of corruption” are now sharing power with him, which has “exposed the double standards” of the ruling coalition, said Sapkal. Pawar’s NCP, the BJP and Shiv Sena, led by Deputy CM Eknath Shinde, are partners in the ruling Mahayuti coalition.