Pune: With the municipal corporation elections scheduled for Jan 15, activists and opposition leaders have stepped up discussions over whether the state govt will grant yet another extension to the Kharge-led committee probing alleged irregularities in the Mundhwa land purchase deal. There are doubts if its report will be made public before the polls.The five-member panel, which is examining a transaction involving a firm linked to deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar’s son, Parth, was originally asked to submit its report by Dec 6. The deadline was later extended by a month, pushing it to the first week of Jan.Senior officials in the revenue department said the committee is continuing its work, but the timing of submission and publication of the report will depend on the state govt. “Work is on by the committee. It will be an elaborate report and will be submitted, but whether the govt will release it ahead of the elections is a decision they will have to make,” said a senior official, who did not wish to be named.However, activists and opposition leaders said they were sceptical about the report being released before the civic polls. Activist Vijay Kumbhar said it was unlikely that the govt would make the findings public at such a politically sensitive time. “Ahead of the corporation elections, it is unlikely that the report will be released as the civic polls are a decisive factor for the ruling party. The panel report is of no use and nothing will emerge out of it,” he said.Echoing similar concerns, a senior opposition leader said even if the report is ready, the state govt may delay its publication citing the model code of conduct or other procedural reasons. “There will always be some excuse to defer it,” the leader said. He further said the current political equations too will play a role and the report may be held back.The committee was constituted on Nov 7 by revenue minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule to probe alleged irregularities related to survey number 88 in Mundhwa. It is headed by additional chief secretary (revenue) Vikas Kharge and includes the Pune divisional commissioner, the commissioner of land registration, the director of land records, the inspector general of registration, and the Pune collector.
