Ajit Pawar to return as Maharashtra Deputy CM

Zeenews Bureau

Mumbai: NCP leader Ajit Pawar is all set to return as the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra. Reports said on Thursday that Ajit Pawar will be re-inducted into the Maharashtra Cabinet on Friday. He will take the oath of office and secrecy tomorrow at 10 am at Raj Bhavan. Pawar had stepped down as the deputy CM on September 25 after his name cropped up in the state irrigation scam. Reports had claimed irregularities to the tune of Rs 20,000 crore in irrigation projects in Maharashtra during his 1999-2009 tenure. After the White Paper on irrigation scam was presented before the state Cabinet last fortnight, it was a matter of time before Ajit was re-inducted, sources said. In the period after he stepped down, the party had desisted from naming any other NCP leader as deputy chief minister, leading to speculation that the post was being kept vacant for Ajit to reoccupy it. The decks for re-induction of Ajit, nephew of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, were cleared following the presentation of the White Paper. There was a growing clamour for Ajit`s comeback before the winter session of the state legislature, which begins at Nagpur on December 10, from several NCP leaders and activists. (With PTI inputs)