‘Mess with anyone but me’: Sharad Pawar vows to defeat Ajit faction in a ‘big’ way and urges voters to send a strong message in the upcoming elections | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Addressing a rally at Madha in Solapur, NCP (Sharad Pawar) supremo Sharad Pawar delivered a fiery message to his opponents, calling on voters to decisively defeat those who rebelled under the leadership of his nephew Ajit Pawar. The 83-year-old leader recounted a decades-old betrayal and underlined his resilience and the importance of standing firm against political backstabbing.
Pawar recalled an episode from 1980, when a defection within his party saw him lose the post of Leader of the Opposition in the party. Maharashtra Assembly. “When I returned from abroad, I found that 52 of the 58 MLAs of my party had switched sides under the then Chief Minister AR Antulay. I lost my position as LoP,” he said.
Instead of reacting immediately, Pawar devised a strategy. “For three years I traveled around the state and worked hard. In the next election I fielded young candidates against all 52 defectors. The people of Maharashtra ensured that all 52 were defeated,” he stated.
Addressing the crowd, Pawar stressed the importance of teaching defectors a lesson. “Don’t beat them alone – beat them in numbers,” he insisted, as supporters cheered loudly and completed his interrupted statement by chanting his name.
The meeting comes amid heightened tensions within the NCP, which split in July 2023 after Ajit Pawar and eight MLAs joined the Shinde government. The Election Commission subsequently awarded Ajit Pawar’s faction the party name and ‘bell’ symbol, while Sharad Pawar’s faction was referred to as NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) with the ‘man blowing tutari’ symbol.
In a symbolic battle within the Pawar family, Sharad Pawar’s faction has fielded Yugendra Pawar, his second cousin, against Ajit Pawar in Baramati. Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra Pawar was also defeated in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, losing to sitting MP Supriya Sule, daughter of Sharad Pawar.
With Maharashtra’s political landscape in flux, Sharad Pawar’s rally set the tone for what promises to be a fierce election battle.