A video has gone viral showing Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar purportedly in a heated exchange with a woman Indian Police Service (IPS) officer who was taking action against illegal excavation of soil in Solapur.
In a two-minute video, Mr Pawar was purportedly heard speaking to Anjana Krishna, a sub-divisional police officer, on the phone of a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) worker on August 31.
“Suno, mai deputy chief minister bol raha hu aur aapko aadesh deta hu ki vo rokwao (Listen, I am the deputy chief minister and giving you the order to stop it),” Mr Pawar can be heard telling Ms Krishna, who had reached Solapur’s Kurdu village to take action on the complaint of illegal excavation of ‘murrum’ soil for road construction.
Ms Krishna, a resident of Kerala who was recently posted in Maharashtra, however, doesn’t recognise his voice and asks him to call on her mobile phone.
“Mai tere upar action lunga (I will take action against you),” Mr Pawar then tells Ms Krishna, who was seen standing in a field with some NCP workers.
“Tujhe mujhe dekhna hai na. Tera number de do ya WhatsApp call karo. Mera chehra toh aapko samajh me aaega na (You want to see me, right? Give me your number or call me on WhatsApp. You will recognise my face, right?),” he tells Ms Krishna.
“Itna aapko daring hua hai kya (how dare you),” he asked the officer.
The Minister then makes a video call to her and purportedly asks her to stop the action.
NCP MP Sunil Tatkare said the video was deliberately leaked and claimed that Mr Pawar didn’t intend to stop the action but might have berated the officer to placate party workers.
“Ajit Dada may have chided the IPS officer to placate party workers. He didn’t mean to stop the action completely,” he said.
Mr Pawar is known for his straight talk and never supports any illegal activity, Mr Tatkare, who heads NCP’s Maharashtra unit, said.
“He perhaps meant to stop the action briefly just to defuse the situation,” he said.
