At his show-of-strength meeting on Wednesday, not only did Ajit Pawar ask Sharad Pawar to retire, but he also summarised his uncle’s political journey since 1978, recalling how he joined hands with the Janata Party in 1978 to become Maharashtra chief minister, later returned to the Congress and quit the party in 1999 to launch the NCP.
Ajit took repeated swipes at Pawar in his speech referring to him as someone who started breaking alliances to gain power. He asked for the 81-year-old’s retirement saying politicians were effective between the ages of 25 and 75. He also called out Pawar for his decision to break away from the Congress citing Sonia Gandhi’s foreign birth and then joining hands with the same party.
On retirement
“In every profession, there is an age of retirement. Be it in the bureaucracy or politics. In BJP the retirement age is 75; we have examples of Advani and Murali Manohar Joshi. The new generation is coming. You give us your blessings. If I am mistaken, tell me ‘Ajit, you made a mistake’. I will accept the mistake, correct it and move forward. When you are old. The age has crossed 82-83.. Are you going to stop or not someday? You give us blessings,” Ajit said.
Ajit also said that there had been partiality against him and asked if his mistake was that he is not Pawar’s son. “Why are such things being done (against me)? Why is such a picture being showcased in front of the state (against me)? What mistake did I make? Is it my mistake that I was born in someone else’s family?”
On U-turn after announcing resignation
“Pawar Saheb told me that he wanted to resign and look after the various institutions that he has set up. He told me that he was planning to set up a committee of senior NCP leaders including me, which he said should sit and appoint Supriya Sule as party president. We accepted this proposal. However, a few days later he withdrew the resignation. What was the point of resigning if you had planned to withdraw it later,” he asked. “I didn’t understand that. Don’t we have the ability to run the government (and become CM)? Am I not one of the prominent leaders of the state? Then why am I not getting the blessings (of Pawar)?”
On Pawar being ‘stubborn’
“I spoke to Supriya, I told her that we are from the same family. We have grown up together. You convince him (Pawar). But she said he was stubborn. He doesn’t listen to anyone. What kind of stubbornness is this? I have immense respect, but it should stop,” Ajit said. “Now I need to tell this to the people of Maharashtra. MLAs are being called. Their family members are being called. They are made emotional. Our senior leader had once called an MLA and said the same. He folded his hands and said ‘I will resign from the post of MLA, but I have given my word to go with Ajit’. He then said to him, ‘let me see how you get elected again’. Is this the language of a leader? Does a God figure talk like that? He is like your son. The MLA then said that he doesn’t want an MLA post and will sit at home.”
On holding rallies against him
Ajit advised his uncle not to hold the rallies against him, or else he would also have to give answers and reveal every fact. “We are told that the rallies are being organised now. The first rally would be in Ambegaon, of Dilip Walse Patil. What is Dilip Walse Patil’s mistake? He built his constituency. If you start your rallies, then I would also have to take a rally there and give an answer. If I don’t speak, then people will say I am lying, but I am not. I have a request for my senior (Pawar). He should take some rest now and not be too stubborn. I have spoken less today. But tomorrow if rallies take place, then I will have to speak everything and reveal the facts. This situation should not come to any family and no family should break,” he said.
On his own ambitions
“I got a lot of love from you (Pawar). I became DyCM five times. It’s a record. But I am stuck at Dy CM only. I also wish to lead the state… become the CM…I have a few things in my mind and to implement that I need the CM position. Those development work can’t take place by being in the Opposition.”
On joining BJP
Ajit said that Sharad Pawar himself had on numerous occasions initiated talks to join hands with the BJP and then backed out. “In the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, a proposal was mooted for the NCP, Sena and the BJP to contest elections together with each party contesting 16 seats. The BJP later backed out of this due to corruption allegations against some leaders,” he said.
Talks of 2014
“In 2014, when results were coming. Praful bhai and Saheb discussed and he announced to the media that the NCP would support the BJP from outside. Didn’t you tell Praful-ji? We kept mum because it was the decision of our leader (Sharad Pawar). Later Fadnavis became chief minister. The swearing-in ceremony was at the Wankhede stadium. Prime Minister Modi-ji, who also attended the event, met me and enquired about my and Saheb’s health. If we were not supposed to join them then why were we asked to attend the ceremony?”
Talks of 2017
“In 2017 again, there was a discussion at Varsha on the instructions of our leader (Pawar). From our side, I and Sunil Tatkare were present at the meeting and from the BJP, Sudhir Mungantiwar and Vinod Tawde, Fadnavis and Chandrakant dada were there. Portfolios, guardian ministerships… everything was decided. I would never lie to Maharashtra. If I lie, I will never say that I am from the Pawar family. (Pavarachi aulad sanganar nahi).
“We got a message that Sunil Tatkare was called to Delhi and the BJP’s senior leadership had a meeting with our seniors—Sharad Pawar and Sunil Tatkare. The BJP said the Sena was a 25-year-old ally and that they would not leave the Sena. They said the government would be in alliance with the BJP, Sena and the NCP. Our senior didn’t agree. He said we could not go with the Sena as it is a communal party.”
Talks of 2019
“In 2019, after the Assembly results, BJP leaders, I and Fadnavis had meetings at the residence of a businessman. All discussions took place and we had five meetings. Our senior (Sharad Pawar) then told Fadnavis and me to not speak about it at all. Not to reveal anything. How can I say anything if a senior told us not to? What happened later is known to everyone. The media keeps asking me about it. But I don’t want to defame anyone. But after that there was a change in the plan. We were told to go with the Sena.
“Now the question is, when the Sena was a communal party in 2017, what miracle happened in 2019 that the Sena became a friendly ally? And the BJP, with whom we were planning to go, became communal. It doesn’t work like that. Here you (Pawar) are taking a different stand. There you took a different stand. In two political parties, there could be ideological differences.”
Talks of 2022
“Ask the MLAs present here. All the 54 MLAs of the NCP had given a letter with their signs and submitted it to Sharad Pawar. The meeting took place in my chamber then. Requesting our senior (Pawar) to go with the BJP, since development work would get stuck and because of many other reasons. We were told to form a committee in which Jaynat Patil, Praful Patel and I were there. We were told to speak to the BJP about the alliance.
“We spoke to the BJP over the phone. They told us, ‘such things are not spoken over the phone, you come to Indore for a meeting’. We booked the tickets. We were then told (by Sharad Pawar) that if we go then the media will come to know. I said ‘if we have to form the government, what if the media knows?’ Tickets were cancelled then. He told us to have talks over the phone. Till then there was no oath-taking ceremony of Shinde Saheb. The BJP said these things can’t be discussed over the phone. These are important things. I have a copy of that letter. I can show it. Why am I always made a villain in front of people? What is my mistake?”
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar acknowledges the gathering during a party meeting led by him, in Mumbai. (PTI) 
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