The biggest sensation in Maharashtra's politics last week was the revelation about state Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's son, Parth Pawar, getting involved in a land deal in Pune which turned out to be totally illegal. The land belongs to the government, and by law no government land can be sold to a private party. The deal was registered in Pune at the sub-registrar's office, and the stamp duty for the land purchase was also waived off, as the buyers claimed that they were going to develop an information technology park on the land parcel, which technically gets a stamp duty waiver. The issue became the biggest talking point for the opposition Congress party and the regional media for many days, as the Deputy CM seemed totally confused and on the defensive, giving explanations to the regional media about what had actually happened. The matter became a political issue and caused embarrassment for the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti alliance. However, the BJP leadership in Maharashtra has not asked Ajit Pawar to either step down from his position temporarily or resign while a high-level committee runs an inquiry into the matter.

This is not the first time that Ajit Pawar has landed in trouble. Sometime back, he attracted a big controversy when a video of a recorded conversation surfaced on social media of him putting pressure on a female police officer to go........

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