MUMBAI, Nov. 8 -- The aborted bid by a company linked to deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar's son, Parth, to buy the 40-acre Mundhwa plot isn't the first attempt to gain control of the prime land in Pune. At least three previous revenue ministers had rejected proposals from other individuals to get the land transferred in their names. Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat said such a proposal had been placed before him three times during his stint as revenue minister in 2013 and 2019-20. "The people registered as holders of the 'other rights' in the property card had approached me. I rejected their claim in 2013 as it was government land and they had no interest vested in them as owners, as they claimed. They moved the Bombay High Court against my verdict. These people approached me again, in 2019, after the court directed me to take a call on the matter. I rejected the proposal again," Thorat told HT. The Mundhwa land parcel is Mahar Watan land, which is agricultural land historically allotted by the colonial British government in Maharashtra to the Mahar and Ramoshi communities in lieu of salaries for service to the village administration. The Mahar Watan system was abolished by the then Bombay state in 1958, transferring such land to government ownership. The 272 individuals who had approached Thorat are likely descendants of the original land owners. They had approached two subsequent revenue ministers - Eknath Khadse and Chandrakant Patil - with the same request, to transfer the land in their names. "Both revenue ministers did not take a decision. Thus there were numerous attempts to sell the land on behalf of these 272 people, but these attempts came to nought as the land was vested in the government," said an official with the state revenue department. An official from the land records department explained, "After the Mahar Watan system was abolished in the early 1950s, the land was transferred in the name of "Mumbai Sakar" or the then "Bombay State". This means it is vested in the name of the government." Meanwhile, revenue department officials said prima facie local revenue officials appear to be complicit in facilitating the controversial deal. "The tehsildar served a show cause notice to the Botanical Survey of India, saying the lease, which is in force till 2038, would be cancelled. The tehsildar has no right to cancel the lease," an official said. He said the committee probing the deal will also investigate how a sub-registrar could waive Rs.21 crore in stamp duty without such powers being vested in him. Meanwhile, opposition parties continued their attack on the BJP-led Mahayuti government. Senior Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar demanded that Parth Pawar be booked in the land deal and that Ajit Pawar be sacked from the cabinet. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Danve has questioned why Ajit Pawar is being "shielded" when BJP leader Eknath Khadse was asked to resign in 2016 for a similar land deal....