Ajit Pawar reiterates demand for judicial probe into Kharghar sunstroke deaths

Nationalist Congress Party NCP leader Ajit Pawar on Friday reiterated his demand for a judicial inquiry into the deaths of people during or after the Maharashtra Bhushan award ceremony and said they are seeking information about the incident including the actual number of fatalities through the Right to Information ActAddressing a press conference here Pawar also responded to a query on Thursdays meeting between industrialist Gautam Adani and NCP chief Sharad Pawar saying the two know each other and there is nothing wrong if two such persons meet He said he had no idea about the reason behind the meetingAt least 14 persons including 10 women died after suffering from sunstroke during the governmentsponsored Maharashtra Bhushan award event at Kharghar neighbouring Mumbai on SundayAjit Pawar said he has written to Governor Ramesh Bais urging him to initiate a judicial probeWe have not yet received the correct numbers death toll We know the numbers announced by the state government There are people who are talking about reasons like sunstroke lack of food etc in a hushhush manner he saidThe NCP leader said postmortem of the victims has been done and he has sought the details through RTISome people say that there is a discrepancy in the numbers given by the state government Some are claiming a higher toll but I dont want to say anything about it During Covid19 we had decided that we will not hide the actual numbers he saidShiv Sena UBT leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday claimed that 50 to 75 persons have died due to the Kharghar event and accused the government of hiding real figuresStressing his demand for the judicial probe Pawar said some visuals have surfaced where people can be seen screaming and there is no place to move while in a few others airconditioners are being installedAgain Ive no idea whether these visuals are from the Kharghar programme It is a part of the investigation We have not yet known exactly how many people died he saidSince the government organised the event it becomes their responsibility asserted PawarSocial worker Appasaheb Dharmadhikari was given the states highest award Maharashtra Bhushan at the hands of Union minister Amit Shah during the event in KhargharThe state government has formed a committee headed by an IAS officer It should be probed why afternoon time was chosen for the event and why no mandap was erected These are serious issues he said Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has appointed a onemember committee of Additional Chief Secretary Revenue Nitin Keer to probe the deaths of 14 personsAlso Read Ajit Pawar skips NCP convention in Mumbai buzz around his political move growsPawar said that facts about the incident will come to the fore after a judicial probe If the probe is conducted by an official there are chances of attempts to save other officials Since it is a serious matter I have sought a judicial probe he saidThe NCP leader said they have sought to know how much money was spent on the event Some are claiming Rs 13 crore others saying Rs 14 crore but my take is that in the history of the Maharashtra Bhusan award functions the expenses of this event were the highest he saidAsked if he will demand the resignation of the government Pawar said he would first like the facts to come out through the judicial probeTo a question about Sanjay Raut giving advices despite his apparent dig Pawars response was Who is Sanjay Raut He then said I had not taken anyones name I had spoken about our party and ourselves he saidAmid speculations that he and a group of MLAs loyal to him might align with the BJP Pawar recently said that leaders of other parties were behaving like spokespersons of the NCPOn a question on industrialist Gautam Adani meeting NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday Ajit Pawar said he was not aware of the reason If some allegations are levelled against any person that person meets political luminaries to present his side but here I do not know why the meeting took place he saidPawar also said that none of the allegations against Adani has been proved yet and that Supreme Court has set up a committee to look into the matter US shortseller Hindenburg has alleged stock manipulation and accounting fraud in firms belonging to billionaire AdaniHe also said that everyone knows that Adani and his uncle Sharad Pawar know each other There is nothing wrong if such persons meet he addedOn the Maratha Reservation review petition being rejected by the Supreme Court Pawar said that all the stakeholders including Opposition parties should be taken into confidence and a solution be chalked outThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever