3 minutes of readingPuneUpdated: Jan 14, 2026 08:58 pm IST
After Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar alleged that the cost of an irrigation project was inflated by over Rs 100 crore during the BJP-Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra in 1999 to raise party funds, the BJP today expressed surprise at his “behaviour” and said his statement was inappropriate.
”When the file of the The irrigation project reached Ajit Pawar. and if he had made such accusations (of inflated costs), then it would have reflected his honest stance. But making such accusations after so many years is not appropriate. People will never trust such statements. We did not expect this from Ajit Pawar,” BJP minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said on Wednesday.
He added: “Although I am part of the Mahayuti Coordination CommitteeAjit Pawar is the chief minister. The way Ajit Pawar talks, we never expected this from him…’
On Tuesday, Ajit Pawar had alleged that when the file of Purandar Lift Irrigation Plan had reached it in 1999, the cost of the project was shown to be Rs 330 million. “I had rejected the file. After assessing the cost of the project, it was revealed that the same project would cost Rs 220 million. It turned out that Rs 100 million had been added to the project in the name of party funds and Rs 10 million for the officials involved. If the inflated amount had not been written off, it would have led to a major financial problem in the State… The file is still in my possession,” Pawar had claimed.
The BJP and the undivided Shiv Sena were in power in Maharashtra from 1995 to 1999. The Congress and the NCP returned to power in 1999.
During the rule of the BJP-Shiv Sena, BJP leader Eknath Khadse headed the Ministry of Irrigation. Reacting to Ajit Pawar’s allegations on Wednesday, Khadse said, “Ajit Pawar is facing allegations of corruption in the irrigation department. That’s why he is diverting public attention by making such comments…”
Khadse said Ajit Pawar remembered the file 25 years later. “I was Water Resources Minister in 1999. During that period, nothing like that happened. The cost of the project was never increased to the party funds. Why did Ajit Pawar hide this information for 25 years? Did he protect corruption for 25 years? For the sake of the people, I request him to open the file in his possession and bring the facts to light,” he said.