Sharad Pawar’s politics hurt not just party, but also family, he must introspect: BJP’s Bawankule

A day after Ajit Pawar’s hard hitting speech at MET in Mumbai, where he made startling disclosures about his uncle Sharad Pawar’s politics, Bawankule addressed the press in Nagpur.

“It is high time Sharad Pawar introspects. Why has he lost the trust of most of his party MLAs and leaders? The answer lies in his politics. The BJP had no role in dividing the NCP,” Bawankule asserted.

“Most NCP MLAs, 40 to be precise, under Ajit Pawar’s leadership, have joined the BJP-Sena coalition. We have emerged stronger both in government and electoral politics.”

From what Ajit Pawar disclosed during his speech, he said, it “was evident that was being systematically sidelined. And surprisingly a leader of his political stature had to plead for an organisational role in NCP. These matters are out in the public, which indicates serious issues in the party and that most leaders were not endorsing Pawar Senior’s politics,” Bawankule explained.

NCP’s entry in the alliance was not going to antagonise anybody within the three-party coalition, he said. “CM Eknath Shinde will lead Sena-BJP-NCP coalition for 2024 elections,” Bawankule said. “We are confident about boosting our electoral strength,” he added.

Dismissing talks of unrest within Shinde Sena, the BJP president said, “Shinde is capable of keeping his MLAs intact. None of them will go to any other party. To begin with let us us not overlook the fact that 40 MLAs had left Uddhav to join Shinde.”