It is said, those who live by the sword are forced to die by it.

This seems to apply to those who flourish by corruption. The cap seems to fit the beleaguered Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, one of the most controversial leaders in the premier state.

Once even Prime Minister Narendra Modi had accused him of resorting to Rs 70,000 crore irrigation scam in the premier state.

Paradoxically, in the short-lived tenure of Devendra Fadnavis as chief minister in 2019, in which Ajit Pawar was the deputy, the government had given a clean chit to him. The BJP had then faced much ire over the formation of that ill-fated government, which detractors said showed its lust for power.

Pawar is in deep trouble now, and there is no possibility of a miracle. The Rs 1,800-crore alleged land scam in Pune, in which his son Parth is the prime accused, or the moving spirit of the case, has become the talk of the town.

To say the least, it is an audacious scam resorted to by a company owned by Parth Pawar and a minority partner as they have sought to buy government land at a throwaway price with the aid of a middleman. Part of the land in question is where the garden of the Botanical Survey of India is located. The BSI, which comes under the Union government, was also handed an eviction notice over the piece of land.

The refrain of most of the opposition is that Ajit Pawar immediately quit pending the report of the inquiry ordered into the matter by Fadnavis, for whom the scandal is almost godsend to marginalise Pawar and his Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) ahead of the local body polls.

The opposition's reasoning is that Pawar can return to the cabinet if he gets cleared in the scam. Things do not happen that way in politics, as once a leader is out of the ministry, it takes a herculean effort for him to stage a comeback.

The more the matter is prolonged, the more difficult it will be for Pawar and also the BJP, which will equally get a bad name if no action is taken. The opposition’s refrain is that an impartial inquiry is not possible if Ajit is at the helm.

Already it is said that there have emerged two factions in Ajit’s party: one headed by party MP Sunil Tatkare, who is also the state NCP chief, and the other led by Chagan Bhujbal, who has been an OBC face of the party for long. While Tatkare projects himself as a strong supporter of the PM, Bhujbal is seen to have the backing of the CM.

Pawar's logic – that there is no scam because the actual land transfer has not taken place and that therefore nothing has happened – is not holding water. His detractors argue if there has been no fire, why there is smoke, as the state government has scrapped the contract and one official has been suspended.

Interestingly, Ajit always had the last laugh in matters political when he had the blessings of his estranged uncle Sharad Pawar and when his political stars were on the upswing.

Pawar might be holding the record of having the largest tenure as a deputy chief minister but he failed to become the chief minister. This is despite him being a hard-working politician and having the longest tenure as a legislator among the state leaders. He suspects, and rightly so, that Sharad Pawar – the original NCP's supremo – always ensured Ajit remained number 2, given his ambitious nature and command over the organisation.

In 2014, Ajit Pawar was instrumental in withdrawing NCP support from the Congress-led ministry headed by Prithviraj Chavan, in which he was the deputy. Chavan had ordered the inquiry against Pawar in the irrigation scam.

Congress is in the political doghouse in the state since Prithviraj lost power.

With Pune turning out to be one of the fastest-growing cities in the country, land scams are taking place a dime a dozen. In fact, recently Union minister Murlidhar Mohol, the BJP Lok Sabha member from Pune and a close associate of Fadnavis, was allegedly embroiled in a land scam.

As someone in the know put it, every municipal corporator is turning into a builder in the city, which once boasted of being the cultural capital of Maharashtra but is now gaining a cosmopolitan character.

Ajit is seeking to wash his hands off it as well as brushing off suggestions that even his son has nothing to do with it.

"The concerned land is government land, which cannot be sold. Parth and his partner, Digvijay Patil, were not aware of this fact. How the registration was done and who is responsible will come out in the probe," is the refrain of Ajit, according to reports.

Despite being known to be a bold politician, Ajit looks uneasy while braving the latest storm. He is realising that the scandal is slowly becoming an albatross around his neck.

Parth is known to be close to his father. An NCP ticket for him in 2019 Lok Sabha elections from a constituency in the Pune district had been made a prestige issue by Ajit. Though Sharad Pawar was compelled to nominate Parth, he was defeated by the Shiv Sena candidate in what was seen to be a jolt to Ajit Dada, as he is fondly called in the political circles.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis is known to be a shrewd player who has been playing the cool game of making the BJP the undisputed leader of Maharashtra. Union home minister Amit Shah’s recent remarks that the BJP does not need any ‘crutches’ in Maharashtra, meant virtually sounding the death knell for the allies, be it Ajit’s NCP or the Shiv Sena led by the other deputy CM, Eknath Shinde.

Pawar joined the BJP-led Mahayuti for pelf and power, apparently realising that with the controversies surrounding him, it is better to be in the good books of the world’s largest party, bitterly called by its detractors a “washing machine.”

Right or wrong, the BJP’s philosophy in the Parth scam appears to be very clear. Finish off the allies after the job of acquiring power is done. Throw away the ladder through which you have climbed to the top.

There has not been much love lost between a section of the BJP as well as the RSS and Ajit Pawar. This section considered the NCP chief a corrupt and controversial leader who should not be touched even with a bargepole.

In 2019's short-lived government, Fadnavis had no alternative but to help Pawar tide over the Rs 70,000 crore scam, as his government depended upon the NCP's support. Now, the BJP's declared policy is: we don't need crutches in Maharashtra.

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