By Ananya Sharma 
New Delhi, September 5: Ajit Pawar is back in the headlines, and not for reasons he would like. A short, shaky video from Solapur has thrown Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister into the middle of a storm. On one end of the call is a young IPS officer trying to stop illegal soil excavation. On the other hand, Pawar, furious, demanded to know, “Itna daring hua hai kya?”
That single line, said with the weight of power, has turned into the political clip of the day. It’s everywhere TV tickers, WhatsApp forwards, and opposition speeches.
A Phone Call That Cut Through The Noise
The officer, Anjana Krishna, was on the ground, chasing down trucks carrying illegally dug-up soil. An NCP worker handed her his phone. The voice on the other side identified itself as Pawar. She, not recognizing him, told him to call her directly. That’s when Pawar snapped.
His words weren’t bureaucratic instructions. They were sharp, mocking, and tinged with menace, “I will take action against you.”
For police officers, who already operate in the shadow of political influence, that kind of warning isn’t new. But catching it on tape, from one of the most powerful men in the state, is rare.
Opposition Sees An Opening
The Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) rushed in. They painted Pawar’s outburst as proof that the government isn’t serious about illegal mining, that it is shielding its friends. One MLA asked bluntly, “If this is how the Deputy Chief Minister talks to an IPS officer, what message does it send to the constable on the street?”
It isn’t just about one phone call. Illegal excavation is big money. Trucks of “murrum” mean crores. And crores mean politics. Which is why the opposition believes this clip has landed right where it hurts Pawar in the space where governance, patronage, and raw muscle intersect.
NCP Pushes Back
The NCP scrambled to limit the damage. Party president Sunil Tatkare told reporters that Pawar was misunderstood. “He wasn’t stopping action,” Tatkare insisted, “he was asking for restraint.”
But damage control can only do so much. The clip doesn’t sound like a call for calm it sounds like a command to back off. That perception, fair or not, is what has stuck.
The Other Pawar Story Of The Day
Ironically, while the video spread, Pawar himself was in Pune, speaking about something entirely different local body elections. At the Mukhyamantri Samruddh Panchayat Raj Abhiyan, he said long-delayed polls to over 2,000 local bodies could finally happen in January 2026.
For years, these elections have been on hold because of a Supreme Court case over OBC quotas. With that legal roadblock lifted, the government now wants to push ahead. Pawar told officials to be ready with ward boundaries and consultations.
If these elections happen on schedule, they will decide who controls municipal corporations, zilla parishads, and councils across Maharashtra. That control, in turn, shapes contracts, local projects, and political machinery.
Why The Two Stories Are Connected
One is about a phone call. The other about elections. But in Maharashtra, they aren’t separate. Illegal excavation rackets thrive because of political protection, and that protection is built at the local level. The very elections Pawar is pushing for are the same elections that decide who gets to sit atop those networks.
That’s why the viral video has struck such a nerve. It isn’t just Pawar losing his temper. It’s a glimpse into how political power shields economic interests and how much those interests matter in the months before a poll.
What Next?
For now, Pawar’s team is brushing it off as a misunderstanding. The opposition is sharpening its knives. And the officer at the center of it, Anjana Krishna, has chosen silence.
But the bigger truth is this Maharashtra is heading into an election-heavy stretch, and Pawar is already under the microscope. One clip, one line “Itna daring hua hai kya?” has ensured he won’t be stepping out of it anytime soon.
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- Ananya Sharmahttps://hindustanherald.in/author/ananya/
- Ananya Sharmahttps://hindustanherald.in/author/ananya/
- Ananya Sharmahttps://hindustanherald.in/author/ananya/
- Ananya Sharmahttps://hindustanherald.in/author/ananya/
