Mumbai: Less than three months after he quit after his name cropped up in the alleged irrigation scam in the state, senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar was sworn-in as Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister on Friday.

Ajit Pawar took the oath of office and secrecy today at 9.30 am at Raj Bhavan in presence of Maharashtra Prithviraj Chavan and state Governor Shankar Narayanan.

Pawar had stepped down as the deputy CM on September 25 after his name cropped up in the state irrigation scam.

Reports had claimed irregularities to the tune of Rs 20,000 crore in irrigation projects in Maharashtra during his 1999-2009 tenure.

After the White Paper on irrigation scam was presented before the state Cabinet last fortnight, it was a matter of time before Ajit was re-inducted, sources said.

In the period after he stepped down, the party had desisted from naming any other NCP leader as deputy chief minister, leading to speculation that the post was being kept vacant for Ajit to reoccupy it.

The decks for re-induction of Ajit, nephew of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, were cleared following the presentation of the White Paper.

There was a growing clamour for Ajit’s comeback before the Winter Session of the state legislature, which begins at Nagpur on December 10, from several NCP leaders and activists.