Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar is likely to be made deputy Chief Minister in the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress led government in Maharashtra.
Ajit Pawar may finally take the Deputy CM's post on December 30 when the second cabinet expansion of the Maharashtra government is scheduled to take place.
However, Ajit Pawar may not get the Home portfolio as sources say the ministry is already with the Shiv Sena at present but might be handed over to another NCP leader.
As per sources, Ajit Pawar was to be made deputy chief minister on November 28 but the decision was pushed for a later date after he betrayed the party and aligned with the BJP to form the government, however, both Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis had to resign accepting that they did not have the majority.
Earlier, the Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau filed a fresh affidavit in the Bombay High Court's Nagpur Bench, giving a "clean chit" to senior Ajit Pawar in alleged scams concerning a dozen irrigation projects under the Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation (VIDC).
The affidavit, filed by Director General, ACB, Parambir Singh on Thursday, stated that on Ajit Pawar's role in the issue, "no criminal liability is disclosed during the course of inquiry/investigations by the Special Investigation Team".
An earlier affidavit, submitted to the same court on November 27, had also ruled out the Nationalist Congress Party leader's involvement in any of the cases of alleged irregularities in sanctioning and executing the VIDC projects, into the total alleged Rs 70,000 crore scam.
That affidavit was filed hours after the 80-hour government of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar collapsed - raising eyebrows in political circles, as Pwar, the NCP legislator from Baramati, was Chairman of VIDC at the relevant period, and Minister for Water Resources Development from 1999-2009.
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