Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s Maharashtra will not “bow before the throne of Delhi”: Pawar

"ED has registered the case based on Bombay High Court's directive and the step should not be ascribed to political vendetta." - CM Devendra Fadnavis

Pawar said he believes in the "Constitution of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar" and hence, will extend full co-operation to the ED and enjoy the probe agency's "hospitality". Image Credit: Swarajya
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Wednesday (September 25): Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar today said he will “voluntarily” visit the ED (Enforcement Directorate) office on September 27 in connection with the money laundering case filed against him.

The ED (Enforcement Directorate) has lodged money laundering case against him in the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank scam.

Mr. Pawar is the second prominent politician from the state against whom ED to initiate probe. Earlier on August 22, MNS chief Raj Thackeray was grilled by the agency in a money laundering case.

In a strong reply, he said Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s Maharashtra will not “bow before the throne of Delhi”.

The ED filed the money laundering case against Pawar, his nephew Ajit Pawar and 70 others in the bank scam on the directions of the Bombay High Court.

“I will be mostly out of Mumbai for the Assembly poll campaign. The ED officials shouldn’t misunderstand that I am unavailable. I will go to the agency’s office in Mumbai and give them whatever information they want,” Pawar told reporters.

Pawar said he has not received any notice from the ED yet, but has come across the Press statement the agency has issued.

“Now that such a decision has been taken, it is my duty to cooperate with them. And therefore, I have decided to go there on my own,” he said.

He questioned the timing of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) move, which comes days before the October 21 Assembly polls.

Pawar said he believes in the “Constitution of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar” and hence, will extend full co-operation to the ED and enjoy the probe agency’s “hospitality”.

“Maharashtra follows the ideology of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. We don’t know bowing down before the Delhi takht (throne),” he further said.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that, “ED has registered the case based on Bombay High Court’s directive and the step should not be ascribed to political vendetta.”

“It would be wrong to attribute a political motive for the ED action and call it a political vendetta (by the BJP government),” Fadnavis told reporters.

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