ED action unjust, Sharad Pawar tells PM Narendra Modi

Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar has told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the Enforcement Directoratersquos action against Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Rautrsquos family was an act of injusticeOn Wednesday Pawarrsquos meeting with Modi in Parliament House gave rise to speculations of rapprochement with the BJP in view of the current scenario in Maharashtra particularly over the functioning of the ED and other central agencies NonBJP leaders in the state have accused the Centre of misusing the agencies to target the oppositionThe NCP boss chose to clear the air at a media conference ldquoI told the prime minister that Raut is a Rajya Sabha member and senior journalist and attaching his flat and half an acre of land was injustice It is such a small propertyrdquo he saidldquoWhat was the provocation for taking action against Rautrdquo he asked ldquoIs it because he criticises the BJP What was the need to attach the propertiesrdquo he said while observing that it was clear that the agencies were being misused He said he did not expect the PM to react immediately to his submission but hoped that he Modi would give it a thoughtPawar said he did not discuss other leaders including his party colleagues who face the ED and other agencies ldquoIt was my duty to tell the PM about Raut because he is my Rajya Sabha colleaguerdquo he saidIn addition Pawar also told Modi about the inordinate delay Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has caused in appointing the 12 nominees to the Legislative council ldquoTwoandahalf years have passed since the Maharashtra Cabinet sent the governor its recommendations but the governor has not acted upon itrdquo he said Public issues related to Lakshadweep were also discussed with the PM he addedMVA is strongPawar said no pressure whatsoever will undo the MVA ldquoThe government will complete five years in office and it will be back in power in the next elections as wellrdquo he said Pawar who stitched the MVA together in 2019 added that there were no complaints from the Congress one of the constituentsHe said the NCP was never with the BJP and it will not go with the Modiled party ldquoItrsquos a threeparty government We have clearcut thinking that we are together against the BJPrdquoAbout him taking over as the UPA chairman Pawar said he was not interested in shouldering the responsibility and he did not want to disturb the present setup However he said some CMs of nonBJP states have mooted the idea of getting all nonBJP parties togetherlsquoSomaiya embezzled Rs 57 crore raised for VikrantrsquoSanjay Raut Shiv Sena MPA day after the assets of his wife and aides were attached by the Enforcement Directorate ED in a money laundering case Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut alleged that former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya has embezzled R57 crore that was collected through crowdfunding for saving the retired Indian naval ship IMS Indian Museum Ship Vikrant which eventually was scrappedRaut said Somaiya had begun a crowdfunding mission in 2013 on the promise that the money collected would be deposited in the Raj Bhavanrsquos account Serving and retired defence officials and civilians had contributed wholeheartedly he said in New Delhi adding that the Raj Bhavan has given in writing that there was no record of such money being deposited in its account Raut also produced a response to an RTI query from Raj BhavanRaut demanded that action be taken by the Centre and State because the money was invested in the company owned by Somaiyarsquos son and used in the electionReacting to the allegation Somaiya challenged Raut to submit the evidence to CM Uddhav Thackeray who he said may form an SIT to probe the charge