Rohit: TDP chief’s family commercially linked to VSR Ventures, will BJP ensure justice to its ‘friend’ Ajit Pawar?

Pune/New Delhi: NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar on Saturday claimed that Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Chandrababu Naidu's family members had "personal and financial" link with the aviation firm VSR Ventures — the operator of the plane that crashed in Baramati on Jan 28 with his uncle Ajit Pawar on board — and sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention in the accident's probe.Rohit also repeated his demand for the resignation of civil aviation minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu, pointing out that the latter was from TDP. No transparency could be expected in the plane crash probe till he headed the ministry, Ajit Pawar's nephew said.
TDP sources told TOI that the allegations suggesting involvement of the minister or TDP in shielding anyone connected to Ajit Pawar's plane crash were completely unfounded, baseless and seemed to be politically motivated. Rohit said the relationship of late Ajit Pawar with BJP was more than that of a mere alliance partner. "BJP has TDP's political support at the Centre, but it had a personal friendship with Ajit Pawar. Now, will BJP prefer to support the alliance partner, TDP, for political reasons or ensure justice to its friend Ajit Pawar?" he told reporters in New Delhi during his third presentation on the crash.He said it had been nearly a month since the crash but the Directorate General of Civil Aviation had not submitted any preliminaryreport on it yet. Rohit said, "A financial firm owned by Chandrababu Naidu's family members provided funding to VSR Ventures. They participated in the marriage of the aviation firm's director. When there are personal and financial relations between TDP members and VSR owners, how can we expect an aviation minister, also from TDP, to investigate the crash in an independent and transparent manner?"A source in TDP said aircraft accident investigations were carried out strictly in accordance with established Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau protocols and International Civil Aviation Organisation norms. These inquiries were technical, transparent and entirely evidence-driven, the party said. "Rather than making wild allegations, we should let the investigating bodies do their job and come up with evidence-based answers," a TDP leader said.Rohit wrote a letter to the Prime Minister on Saturday demanding resignation of the civil aviation minister."You have always shown respect for Ajit Dada and his contribution to the country. In this context, I request that Rammohan Naidu be asked to resign from his post," he wrote. He also said he would be writing to the leader of opposition, Rahul Gandhi, to take up the issue in the Parliament session once it commenced again.Ajit Pawar's nephew also claimed that VSR Ventures had support from influential personalities in politics and business. He said, "Powerful personalities from Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh are connected with VSR. Therefore, we suspect that the investigation is not progressing the way it should have been. There is a possibility of manipulation."He said, "Only PM Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah had the capabilities to take on the powerful people connected to VSR. Therefore, I am requesting them to step in and go to the bottom of the case," he said.TDP sources said it was deeply unfortunate that the tragic loss of a respected political leader was being politicised for narrow political gains. TDP always held Ajit Pawar in the highest regard and remained fully committed to ensuring that the truth emerged and those responsible, if any, were held accountable.Rohit Pawar alleged additional petrol cans were kept on the ill-fated plane and sought a probe into it. "We had expressed doubts about the black box. When the accident occurred, there were many blasts. Additional petrol cans were kept in the area to keep bags in the plane, and that's what caused the fire. This needs to be investigated," he said.After Rohit raised several questions earlier over the plane crash, Ajit Pawar's family members, including his sons Parth and Jay, also expressed suspicion over the crash. NCP recently submitted a letter to Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, demanding a CBI probe into the crash."It is good that NCP has demanded a CBI probe. They should have done it much earlier. NCP is a part of NDA and had they approached Shah immediately after the crash, the CBI investigation would have started by now," Rohit said.(With inputs from Srikanth Aluri in Vijaywada)