‘You are now 83, are you going to stop or not?… all MLAs with me’: Ajit Pawar to Sharad Pawar

“All the MLAs are in touch with me. Even those MLAs who are in another meeting (with Sharad Pawar),” Ajit said at the meeting held in Bandra where 29 NCP MLAs showed up.

Ajit pointed out that Sharad Pawar himself, on numerous occasions, had 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, Shiv Sena and BJP to contest elections together with each party contesting 16 seats. The BJP later backed out of this due to accusations against some leaders. Leaders like Nitin Gadkari were keen but local BJP leaders had reservations about this,” he revealed.

“In 2017 also, there was an attempt to go with the BJP but the BJP was not willing to leave Shiv Sena. The alliance failed as our leaders said we will not go with Shiv Sena since it’s a communal party. At the same time, in 2019, we were asked to join hands with Shiv Sena. Earlier, they said Shiv Sena is a communal party, what changed in 2019 then?” Ajit said.

Ajit also said that it was his uncle who had asked him to join the BJP government in 2019. “Five meetings had taken place at the residence of a prominent businessman of the country. Senior BJP leaders and NCP leaders were present there. The decision was taken and I was asked to go (for swearing-in). Later, everything was backtracked and we went with Shiv Sena,” Ajit said.

The NCP, Ajit said, had decided to join hands with the BJP a year ago. “The meeting had taken place. All this happened before (Maharashtra CM Eknath) Shinde went to Guwahati. I have a letter with the signatures of all the MLAs. This is not what I have done or decided anything but every time I am blamed,” he said.

Referring to how Sharad Pawar had broken alliances to gain power, Ajit questioned his uncle’s intent in resigning as NCP chief and then taking the resignation back. “He 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 his resignation. What was the point of resigning if you had planned to withdraw it later?” Ajit asked.

Ajit also said that he wanted to lead the state. “I got a lot from you…I became deputy CM five times. It is a record…but I am stuck at deputy CM only. I also wish to lead the state…be CM…,” he said.

“I can see that poverty has increased, there is rising unemployment. We need to address these issues by staying in the government. This cannot be done by staying in the Opposition,” he explained. “What is my fault? Is it that I was not born into someone’s family?”

“I have a request for my senior…to take rest. Don’t be stubborn. I have spoken very less today. If rallies start taking place in the future then I will have to reveal everything,” Ajit said, ending his speech on an emotional note.