Dismissing Agriculture Minister and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar's claim that he had no role in the 2G scam, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday sought an explanation from him as to why he and his family figure directly or indirectly in every controversy that has come to light in recent times.
Party spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters that Pawar is a senior public figure who has been the chief minister of Maharashtra four times and a Union minister for a long time.
Prasad said it was intriguing that the Maratha strongman's name cropped up in connection with every scandal, be it the Pune land scam case, the IPL row, the controversy over Lavasa Hill City and the sugar import-export scam.
Prasad pointed out that the NCP's ally Congress had remained silence about Pawar being implicated by corporate lobbyist Niira Radia for helping the 2G scam-tainted Shahid Balwa of D B Realty.
"If the Congress believes in the compulsion of coalition politics, it should defend Pawar better or else sack him from the government," Prasad added.
