https://www.india.com/news/india/ncp-faction-war-ajit-pawar-reiterates-cm-ambitions-as-majority-party-mlas-attend-mega-meet-6150280/NCP Faction War: Ajit Pawar reiterates CM ambitions as majority party MLAs attend Mega Meet

As many as 32 of the 53 Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLAs attended the meeting convened by the Ajit Pawar group, while 18 MLAs attended the conclave addressed by Sharad Pawar.

Mumbai/New Delhi: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said on Wednesday that he aspires to become the CM of the state and also took a joke on NCP chief Sharad Pawar asking his 83-year-old uncle when he will retire from active politics, as the rebel leader seemed to do. be ahead in the numbers game for control of the NCP after the vertical split.

While the warring Pawar camps held separate rallies in Mumbai to show their strength, the remarks of 63-year-old Ajit Pawar, who has never hidden his ambitions as prime minister, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, whose Sena-BJP coalition government completed a year last week. Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, a former chief minister, is also deputy chief minister.

“I have been sworn in as deputy CM five times. It’s a record, but the vehicle stops there, doesn’t move on. I feel from the bottom of my heart that I must become pramukh (cm) of the state. I have some things I want to implement and for that it is essential to become pramukh (CM),” Ajit Pawar told a meeting he convened in Bhujbal Knowledge City in a suburb of Bandra.

As many as 32 of the 53 Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLAs attended the rally convened by the Ajit Pawar group, while 18 MLAs attended the conclave addressed by Sharad Pawar, sources at both factions said.

Sharad Pawar addressed separate gatherings, their first after the split of the 24-year-old party on July 2, criticizing his nephew for joining the Shiv Sena-BJP government, as they berated each other for the age of octogenarian politician and the use of his photo. .

Surrounded by NCP workers, including 32 of the party’s 53 MLAs, Ajit Pawar, who was sworn in as deputy CM on July 2, along with eight other party leaders who had also joined the government, suggested that his uncle should take the place make for the younger generation.

“You are 83, are you not going to stop?. Everyone has their innings. The most productive years are from 25 to 75 years. Give us your blessings and we will pray that you live a long life,” said Ajit Pawar.

“For us, Saheb (Sharad Pawar) is a deity and we have deep respect for him. IAS officers retire at 60. Even in politics, BJP leaders retire at 75. You can see the example of LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi.”

When he made the statement, newly appointed minister Chhagan Bhujbal, who is 75 years old and a key member of the Ajit Pawar camp, was on the podium.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that the Election Commission has been informed through an affidavit that Ajit Pawar has been elected NCP Chief through a June 30, 2023 resolution signed by an “overwhelming majority” of members of the party, both from the legislature and from the organizational wing.

A statement issued on Wednesday on behalf of the Ajit Pawar-led faction also said that Praful Patel, who abandoned Sharad Pawar, remains the working president of the NCP.

The NCP has also decided to appoint Ajit Pawar as the leader of its Legislative Party in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and this decision was also endorsed by the resolution passed by an overwhelming majority of NCP MLAs, the statement said.

The NCP factional struggle has also reached the threshold of the EC, with the group led by Ajit Pawar submitting more than 40 affidavits from MLAs and MPs in support of him. The Sharad Pawar camp has submitted a reservation to the polling authority urging them to hear them first before adopting any directive related to the factional struggle, EC sources in Delhi said.

Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule, a member of parliament from Lok Sabha, hit back at her rebel cousin Ajit Pawar, saying she would not tolerate a single word against her father.

“One can criticize me or anyone else, but I will not tolerate that against my father … he is more than a father to the party workers,” she said.

“We as daughters are much better than the sons who ask their father to come and sit at home.”

In his speech, Ajit Pawar blamed his uncle for the NCP missing out on the opportunity to have its own prime minister in Maharashtra in 2004. place,” he said.

Sharad Pawar addressed his faction’s meeting at the Yashwantrao Chavan Center, which was attended by about a dozen MLAs, and criticized his cousin for going to power with the BJP, despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi reportedly calling the NCP a “corrupt” party would call.

The seasoned politician, who has endured many crises in the six decades of his political career, objected to his big picture that graced the stage at the rally convened by the Ajit Pawar group. .

As the Ajit Pawar-led faction approaches the EC and lays claim to the party symbol, the four-time chief minister of Maharashtra and a former union minister assured his supporters that he will not allow anyone to take the party symbol.

“If they went there, why are they using my photo? I will not let our symbol and our party name fall into their hands.”

“Just a few days ago, they (Ajit Pawar) mocked Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, saying that they have not seen such a CM in all these years, but today they have joined him,” said Sharad Pawar.

Recalling his connection to the masses when he founded the NCP in 1999 after leaving Congress, the senior Pawar said, “Today we may not be in power, but we are in people’s hearts.”

The NCP chief also warned the Ajit Pawar faction, saying that every BJP ally has faced “political destruction” in the end and they will suffer the same fate.

“Those who join hands with the BJP and share power will ultimately be politically destroyed. The BJP’s policy is to steadily weaken its political allies. There are plenty of examples of this in other states,” said the Rajya Sabha MP.

“The Akali Dal was with the BJP for many years, but now it is nowhere. A similar situation occurred in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. In Bihar, Prime Minister Nitish Kumar realized it and moved to an alliance with the RJD.”

Minister Bhujbal said the insurgent MLAs took the decision to join Eknath Shinde-Fadnavis’ government in Maharashtra after “good consideration”.

Speaking to a news outlet, Bhujbal said, “We have made the decision to join the government of Maharashtra after careful consideration. If he (NCP chief Sharad Pawar) has a long career of 57-58 years in politics, I have also spent 56 years in the same field.

“Our decision didn’t come as we woke up one morning and joined the government.”

(Only the headline has been reworked by India.com staff. Copy is from a syndicated feed)