Hours after stating that there was no split in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar was its leader, party founder Sharad Pawar on Friday claimed that he did not make any such statement. Ajit Pawar joined the Eknath Shinde-BJP government as deputy chief minister in a surprise move earlier this year.
Speaking to reporters in Kolhapur, Sharad Pawar chalked up the recent developments in the party to “some leaders taking a different stand”.
“If a faction of the party is taking a different stand, it’s their right. It’s not like majority of the people from the party are going out. Some people have taken a different stand, democracy allows them to do so. It’s not a split in the party,” he said.
As his remarks created a flutter, the NCP founder claimed in Satara a few hours later that he had been misquoted.
“I did not say that Ajit Pawar is our leader. Supriya said that as she’s his sister,” said Pawar. “If any person does any anti-party act and if the party takes any action against him, that does not mean that there’s a split within the party.”
He also referred to the 2019 incident, when his nephew had attempted to ally with the Bharatiya Janata Party. “Previously Ajit Pawar had taken one stand and joined hands with the BJP and took early morning oath. Later he accepted his mistake and we gave him a chance as a measure to correct the mistake. But again he has done the same thing…One cannot be given opportunities again and again,” he said.
The statements by the Maratha strongman, who will be addressing a rally in Kolhapur on Friday, have led to further confusion within the NCP as well as the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition with Shiv Sena-UBT and the Congress. Pawar Senior had earlier asked his nephew’s faction not to use his photographs on their banner and hoardings. In Beed last week, the Ajit Pawar faction had put up hoardings welcoming Sharad Pawar to the city for a rally and had sought his blessings.
Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule had recently claimed there is no split in the NCP and that her father continues to be party president.
“There is no split in the NCP. Our president is Sharad Pawar and our state president is Jayant Patil. That is the status of our party at the moment and we stand by it. Our party is not in an alliance in any form with the BJP. Some of our people took a different stand and, as per the process, we have shared our views and inputs on the same with the Speaker,” she had said.
With contradictory statements from top NCP leaders piling up, the Congress has decided to speak directly with Sharad Pawar.
Speaking to News18, Maharashtra Congress leader Sachin Sawant said: “Regarding this confusing scenario, our leadership will speak with NCP supremo Sharad Pawar.”
Commenting on Sharad Pawar’s statements, BJP state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule said: “In the next seven months, the type of work PM Narendra Modi is going to do till 2024 elections, and the type of work he has done for the last nine years, I believe Sharad Pawar will also have a change of heart. Ahead of the elections next year, I believe he will have a change of heart and be with us.”
Sources in the Maha Vikas Aghadi told News18 that the BJP will try to dent the Opposition’s INDIA bloc before the August 31 meeting in Mumbai by trying to rope in the rest of the NCP.
Sharad Pawar has maintained he would not align with the BJP, but observers say the lack of a strong stand against the Ajit Pawar faction has MVA leaders on tenterhooks. Some also question that if there is no split in the party as claimed by the Pawar clan, why did Sharad Pawar ask the Ajit faction to not use his image in publicity material?
Is the door being kept open for Ajit Pawar’s return to the MVA fold or is it being kept open to join hands with the BJP before 2024?
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