A video went viral recently featuring Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar apparently in an argument with a woman Indian Police Service (IPS) officer who was taking action against illegal soil digging in Solapur.
The two-minute video is seen with Mr. Pawar addressing Anjana Krishna, a sub-divisional police officer, on the phone of a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) worker on August 31.
"Suno, mai deputy chief minister bol raha hu aur aapko aadesh deta hu ki vo rokwao (Listen, I am the deputy chief minister and giving you the order to stop it)," Mr Pawar can be heard telling Ms Krishna, who had reached Solapur's Kurdu village to take action on the complaint of illegal excavation of 'murrum' soil for road construction.
A native of Kerala and recently posted in Maharashtra, Ms. Krishna does not know his voice and requests him to call her mobile.
Mr. Pawar then threatens her: "Mai tere upar action lunga (I will take action against you)," as she is caught standing in a field with some NCP workers.
"Tujhe mujhe dekhna hai na. Tera number de do ya WhatsApp call karo. Mera chehra toh aapko samajh me aaega na (You want to see me, right? Give me your number or call me on WhatsApp. You will recognise my face, right?)," he tells Ms Krishna.
"Itna aapko daring hua hai kya (how dare you)," he asked the officer.
Speaking on the issue, NCP MP Sunil Tatkare alleged the video was deliberately leaked and maintained that Mr. Pawar did not intend to stop the operation but possibly scolded the officer to placate party workers.
"Ajit Dada may have chided the IPS officer to placate party workers. He didn't mean to stop the action completely," he said.
Making a point of Mr. Pawar's image for straight talk and honesty, Mr. Tatkare, NCP's Maharashtra unit chief, further added: "He perhaps meant to stop the action briefly just to defuse the situation."
