Pune, Nov 15 NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar on Sunday appealed to Union Home Minister Amit Shah to announce a CBI probe into the death of NCP leader Ajit Pawar and the naming of the Pune Ring Road after him.
Shah is on a two-day visit to Pune from Sunday.
Ajit Pawar, the then deputy chief minister, died in a plane crash at Baramati in Pune district on January 28 this year.
In a post on X, Rohit Pawar said Shah is scheduled to unveil a statue of Ajit Pawar at the Pune Zilla Parishad office on Monday.
He thanked the Zilla Parishad leaders who backed the move for the installation of the late NCP leader’s statue, but questioned why those enjoying ministerial positions in the state government with Ajit Pawar’s support were not demanding that the Pune Ring Road be named after him.
Ajit Pawar’s contribution to the development of Maharashtra was invaluable, and he served as the guardian minister of Pune district for more than a decade, the Opposition NCP (SP) legislator stated.
He questioned whether some people were opposed to naming a major project after Ajit Pawar, and said merely unveiling a statue would not be enough to honour his contribution.
“It would be better if Shah announced that the Pune Ring Road will be named after Ajit Pawar and a CBI probe into his death. Otherwise, we will launch a major agitation on Ajit Pawar’s death anniversary to demand that the road be named after him,” Rohit Pawar said.
He also said efforts would continue to ascertain whether Ajit Pawar’s death was an accident or a “conspiracy”.
A Learjet 45 aircraft, operated by VSR Ventures Pvt Ltd, crashed at Baramati airport on the morning of January 28 while en route from Mumbai to Baramati, killing Ajit Pawar and four others.
The Maharashtra CID and the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) under the Ministry of Civil Aviation were conducting separate inquiries into the incident.
After Ajit Pawar’s death, his wife Sunetra Pawar became the NCP head and deputy chief minister.
The NCP (SP) has dismissed reports of a possible merger of the two Nationalist Congress Party factions as “completely false”, even as senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal said any talks were unlikely to yield results until party president Sunetra Pawar took a decision.
(PTI News)
