Patole & Patel slug it out as sparks fly over graft
Nagpur: The ongoing slugfest between former Maharashtra Congress president
Nana Patole
and former Union civil aviation minister Praful Patel reached a flashpoint on Friday after the former accused Patel of being responsible for irregularities during his 2011–12 tenure in the UPA govt.
Patole's reply came days after Patel termed him as "chillar (petty)" leader, claiming he was being sidelined in Congress after stepping down as MPCC president. Their rivalry began after Patole caused a major upset by defeating Patel, a heavyweight candidate in 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Interestingly, Patole was a Congress MLA from Sakoli when Patel was aviation minister and both were in the same govt.
Citing objections raised by the Accountant General at the time, Patole claimed Patel cleared questionable civil aviation deals without consequence. "Despite audit red flags, no action was taken. Now, those individuals enjoy protection under the BJP-led Centre. Why was
Air India
sold off and what's the job of the civil aviation ministry now," he asked at a packed press conference here on Friday, demanding a fresh audit and parliamentary probe into the disinvestment.
He further accused the BJP-led Centre of shielding Patel in return for his political allegiance.
Patel dismissed the charges as "baseless" and politically motivated, pointing out Patole's silence when both leaders were in Congress. "He's raising these decade-old issues after nearly losing his assembly seat last year when he scraped through by mere 208 votes. He has no role in the party, so he's attacking others for relevance.
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He doesn't have any evidence to substantiate his claims," Patel told TOI.
Talking to reporters, Patole also accused Election Commission of India (ECI) of colluding with the Centre to erase electoral accountability. He condemned a May 30 circular by the ECI instructing state CEOs to destroy all polling-related CCTV footage and documents within 45 days of polling. "This is the first time in independent India that critical poll evidence is being legally destroyed.
Citizens would access these materials to challenge outcomes.
That right is gone now," he said.
He cited a December 2024 ruling by the Punjab and Haryana High Court that mandated preserving such records and accused the Centre of acting in haste. "Within 48 hours of the ECI's letter to the govt, Rule 93 of the Conduct of Election Rules was amended. This cannot be coincidental, it proves collusion," Patole said.
Calling the change "a murder of democracy in broad daylight," Patole questioned the surge in vote count on counting day.
"At 5 pm there were 40 lakh votes. By evening, it was 76 lakh. When I asked the ECI to explain, they remained silent."
The Sakoli MLA further demanded accountability from the Centre following a recent Air India crash in Ahmedabad that claimed over 270 lives. "When 26/11 happened, Congress took moral responsibility by taking resignation from then chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and deputy CM RR Patil. Today's rulers must do the same."
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