Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) president Sharad Pawar on Saturday said that Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis should conduct a thorough probe and make public the facts related to the controversial Pune land deal allegedly linked to Parth Pawar, son of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.
“The chief minister has said publicly that the matter is serious. So he should conduct a probe and put the facts before society,” Sharad Pawar told reporters in Akola. The controversy involves the alleged illegal sale of 40 acres of government land in Pune’s Mundhwa area, reportedly worth around Rs 1,800 crore, which Opposition leaders claim was sold to a company linked to Parth Pawar for just Rs 300 crore, with a stamp duty waiver.
Ajit Pawar, who serves as Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister, has distanced himself from the transaction, saying he learned about it months ago and would not tolerate any wrongdoing. When asked whether his nephew Ajit Pawar was being targeted politically by allies in the ruling Mahayuti alliance, Sharad Pawar said, “I wouldn’t know.”
Sharad Pawar also appeared to disagree with his daughter and NCP MP Supriya Sule, who had defended Parth, saying she did not believe he would do anything wrong. “That could be her view,” Pawar remarked, adding, “Administration, politics, and family are different.” He further said, “As a family, we (Pawars) are one, but ideologically divided. One of my grandnephews contested against Ajit Pawar, and Ajit’s wife contested against my daughter.”
Sharad Pawar said the strategy for the upcoming local body elections would be decided unanimously by the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) partners. “We (NCP-SP) are meeting tomorrow to finalise our strategy and to discuss inducting new allies,” he said, hinting at including Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) in the Opposition bloc. “If a good consensus-based alternative emerges within the MVA, the Congress should not take an extreme stance on the MNS and should consider it,” he added.
Pawar also criticised the Mahayuti government for neglecting farmers suffering crop loss and debt. “Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj always cared for farmers. The current government’s relief announcement is akin to a fraud. Farmers who received aid in April have not received any help this time,” he said, calling the recent loan waiver announcement “deceptive.” Fadnavis had earlier said the state government would take a decision on farm loan waivers by June 30, 2026, amid an agitation led by former MLA Bachchu Kadu.
Meanwhile, the controversy over the Pune land deal has sparked political sparring within the ruling Mahayuti, with BJP MP Narayan Rane taking a dig at Ajit Pawar over his comments defending his son. Reacting to Ajit Pawar’s remark that “when your children grow up, they do their own business,” Rane quipped, “Children can grow up, but they should be obedient. What more can I say about it?” Rane, once a vocal critic of Ajit Pawar, refrained from making further comments.
Maharashtra minister and BJP leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil suggested that Ajit Pawar’s “busy schedule” may have delayed his response to the controversy. “If Ajit Pawar had acted when he first got wind of the Pune land issue, this situation might not have arisen. But given his busy schedule, some decisions happen automatically,” Vikhe Patil said. Vikhe Patil, a former Congressman, has had a long history of political rivalry with the Pawar family in western Maharashtra. An FIR has already been registered against three individuals, including a company partner and a government official, for allegedly causing loss to the exchequer.
In a separate development, Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar on Saturday alleged that Maharashtra Minister Pratap Sarnaik acquired a four-acre plot in Mira-Bhayandar worth ₹200 crore for just Rs 3 crore to establish an educational institute — a claim Sarnaik has denied. “Can a minister acquire such land for his own institute? If this is permissible, then let this be Maharashtra. We will shut our eyes helplessly — this is the current situation under their rule,” Wadettiwar said.
Sarnaik dismissed the charges, saying, “Wadettiwar is a senior leader. I expect him to provide documentary proof. I don’t even know where this land is or how it’s linked to me.” Maharashtra Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said he had only “heard of the allegations” and received no formal complaint. “These people spend more time making allegations through the media than actually filing complaints. If a complaint is submitted, we can order an inquiry,” Bawankule said, citing the ongoing Pune land case as an example where a state-level probe committee was formed once the issue was raised.
