Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP chief Ajit Pawar’s revelation that billionaire Gautam Adani was present alongside BJP leader Amit Shah and NCP veteran Sharad Pawar during 2019 BJP-NCP talks has stirred the political circles.
In an interview with Newslaundry and The News Minute, Ajit said that ahead of the NCP split and his defection to the BJP camp, the meeting happened at a businessman’s house in Delhi. “Amit Shah, Gautam Adani, Praful Patel, Devendra Fadnavis, and Sharad Pawar. Everyone was there. Everything was decided. The blame has fallen on me. I have taken the blame and let others be safe,” he said during the conversation with journalist Sreenivasan Jain.
The revelations have led to sharp criticism from the Congress and renewed speculations about Gautam Adani’s proximity with the Narendra Modi government. While many dailies skipped the report, two prominent newspapers gave it front-page coverage. So what did they say?
Indian Express
A front-page report in the Indian Express said, “In what may add fuel to the Opposition’s allegations of Gautam Adani holding undue influence in the Modi government, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has claimed that the industrialist was part of government formation talks.”
The report quoted NCP leader and Sharad Pawar’s daughter, Supriya Sule, as saying that she doesn’t know about the meeting. It also cited a BJP source, who contested Ajit’s claims and said that this meeting “actually happened in 2017”, when there was a BJP-Shiv Sena government in power in Maharashtra.
The Times of India
A report on page one of the Times of India said that Ajit’s statements underline that Sharad Pawar was “part of the power-sharing negotiations”.
It said: “Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) functionaries reacted sharply to Ajit Pawar’s revelation about industrialist Gautam Adani being part of BJP-NCP talks in 2019, saying it was proof the Maharashtra govt was “Adani sarkar.” Gautam Adani was not available for comment.”
The report further added that “the BJP did not comment, but in the past, Fadnavis has said Sharad Pawar has had a series of meetings with the BJP between 2017 and 2019.”
The newspapers that skipped the report included Hindustan Times, Mint, Telegraph, Business Standard, The Hindu, and The New Indian Express.
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