Ajit Pawar faces backlash after viral video shows him ordering IPS officer to halt crackdown on illegal murrum mining
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was ordering IPS officer Anjana Krishna to stop the police crackdown on illegal murrum excavation in Solapur, Maharashtra in a viral video.
Aadrika Tayal 
New Delhi (India) September 5: Ajit Pawar is the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and deputy chief minister of Maharashtra. He landed himself in a controversy. This is after a video of him allegedly pressing a female IPS officer to stop action against unlawful soil extraction in a Solapur village went viral on social media.
IPS officer Anjana Krishna questioned legitimacy of deputy CM’s call
According to reports, the incident happened two days ago in Kurdu village, Karmala taluka. Anjana Krishna is a subdivisional police officer. She had gone there to investigate allegations of illegal "murrum" excavation. It is a material commonly used in road building.
Local NCP employees had to step in after villagers and officials got into a physical fight. In the video, party worker Baba Jagtap is seen giving his phone to Krishna after making a direct call to Ajit Pawar.
Pawar can be seen talking to Krishna on Jagtap's phone in the video. The video has been widely shared on social media.
The IPS Officer asks, "I can understand what you are saying, but I am unable to figure out if I am talking to the deputy Chief Minister. Can you please call me on my number directly?"
The Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister replies, "Ek min, main tere upar action lunga. I am myself talking to you and you are asking me to call you directly. You want to see me. Take my number and make a WhatsApp call. Itna aapko daring hua hai kya (How dare you?)".
Pawar seems to be angry by her response. He retaliated by threatening to take action against the IPS officer.
Later, the Deputy Chief Minister uses a video call to advise the police to stop the action since she does not recognize his voice. Krishna said that she was not sure that she was addressing Pawar. The NCP leader then asks her if she knows him personally.
NCP defends Pawar
According to the Nationalist Congress Party, Ajit Pawar's comments were misunderstood.
NCP state president Sunil Tatkare says, “Pawar is known for straight talk. He asked the woman IPS officer to defer the action as there were issues relating to law and order in the state. These things keep happening while dealing with the bureaucracy and there was nothing wrong with what he said or did”.
The NCP also claims that the video was purposefully released in order to politically criticize Pawar.
Numerous social media users express anger over the widely shared video. They question the deputy chief minister's behavior towards Anjali Krishna.
Opposition leaders back officer
Sushama Andhare is the leader of the Shiv Sena (UBT). She also defends Anjali Krishna. She states that her intention to confirm Ajit Pawar's identification was valid.
Andhare says, "Why should she stop the action? There was nothing wrong in wanting to verify if the call was really from the deputy CM".
The sub-divisional officer, DSP Krishna, the tehsildar, and other officials involved in the operation have not commented publicly. They state that the situation is being investigated. As of now, no police report has been filed.
