Will speak after IT searches get over: Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday said he will speak about the Income Tax department's raids on the properties of his relatives and aides once the action is over. He did not want to obstruct the I-T department's work, he told reporters here.

"The department is doing its job. The officials are still there. Once they leave, I will issue my statement. By speaking while the searches are on, I do not want to obstruct their work," said the senior NCP leader. He also appealed the NCP workers who had gathered outside the Council Hall here to express support for him to leave, Pawar added.

"Let I-T officials leave and I will answer all questions. I have answers for your questions," said Pawar, who holds finance portfolio in the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government. "My stand is always clean and transparent. I am disciplined about financial matters. I always appeal people to pay their taxes....tax should be paid by everyone including me and the firms linked to me," he said. He will also speak about the controversial sale of defunct cooperative sugar mills in the state by providing proof, Pawar said.

Earlier in the day, NCP president Sharad Pawar had alleged that the Income Tax raids came after he compared the Lakhimpur Kheri violence in Uttar Pradesh to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. "The I-T raids were carried out because I likened the Lakhimpur Kheri violence to Jallianwala Bagh massacre...Don't we have the right to air our views in democracy?" asked the senior leader who is Ajit Pawar's uncle.

The I-T department on Thursday raided some businesses linked to family members of Ajit Pawar and some real estate developers on charges of tax evasion. The premises linked to business groups such as DB Realty, Shivalik, Jarandeshwar Sahkari Sugar Karkhana (Jarandeshwar SSK) and businesses linked to Ajit Pawar's sisters were raided during the operation, official sources had said.