Congress MLA Aslam Shaikh has thrown down a challenge to the Maharashtra government over the controversial Pune land transaction involving Parth Pawar, son of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. Speaking out on Sunday, Shaikh accused the state of distributing development funds arbitrarily and warned that such irregular land deals are unavoidable in the system unless accountability is enforced.
Shaikh’s sharp charge and call for action
Aslam Shaikh said that the government’s alleged dispersal of development money through familial or caste-based schemes creates fertile ground for mistakes, specifically land deals that favour powerful insiders. He told ANI: "Everything is clear as to what has happened in this matter and if this happens regarding government land, then it is bound to happen because you have started distributing the development money through Ladki Bhabhi, Ladke Bhau and various schemes and now the remaining land is government land which you will give to such big people and ultimately this is bound to happen.”
He added pointedly: “If there is any mistake in this, then action should be taken and the government should take responsibility.”
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His comments come amid growing outrage over the sale of a 40-acre parcel of state-owned land in Pune’s Mundhwa area to a firm tied to Parth Pawar, allegedly at an undervalued price.
Deal details and political heat
The controversy centres on a 40-acre plot in Mundhwa, sold to Amadea Enterprises LLP, linked to Parth Pawar, for approximately ₹300 crore, despite estimates valuing the land at up to ₹1,800 crore. The transaction reportedly included a tiny stamp duty payment of just ₹500 after claiming a data-centre status, triggering allegations of major revenue loss.
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Opposition leaders are demanding full transparency, and this land-deal issue has become a lightning rod for wider grievances around development funds, land rights and political privilege.
As the probe deepens, Aslam Shaikh’s remarks underscore a broader push by the Congress to hold the state government accountable, not just for one land transaction, but for what the opposition frames as a system that enables such deals. The coming weeks will test whether the inquiry unearths substantive answers or becomes another chapter in the political battle over land, power and privilege.
