Ready to stake claim to CM post… can’t deny Modi charisma: NCP’s Ajit Pawar

Pawar, who is Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly, has been cosying up to the BJP and there’s a guessing game if he will again stitch an alliance with the party should the need arise.

Asked whether he would stake claim to the CM post after the next Assembly elections, Pawar said, “Not just in 2024, even now I am ready to stake claim to the Chief Minister’s post.”

“In 2004, the NCP could have had its first Chief Minister. The NCP had numbers on its side. Some decisions are taken at the highest level. To maintain party discipline, we follow the directives issued by the seniors. In 2004, we had an alliance with the Congress. We had won 71 seats. Even the Congress had made up its mind that the NCP will have its Chief Minister. But after some developments, we were told the Congress would get the Chief Minister’s post. Our MLAs had elected R R Patil as our legislative party leader but we missed the opportunity. Later, we stood second in terms of MLAs and, therefore, had to remain satisfied with the Deputy Chief Minister’s post,” he said.

Asked whether he would like to become the Chief Minister, he said, “100 per cent.”

He rejected the charge that there was a “pressure group” in the NCP which wants the party to join hands with the BJP. “There is no such pressure group in the NCP and there is no need to spread misunderstanding.”

In the interview, Pawar was effusive in his praise for Prime Minister Modi, saying his “charisma” was the only reason the BJP came to power.

“The BJP came to power in 2014 and 2019. The only reason for this is Narendra Modi. Narendra Modi’s charisma reigned in the country. He won the confidence of the country. Through his speeches, he impressed the people. And that’s why people thought the country’s reins should be handed over to him,” he said.

“BJP had leaders like Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Lal Krishna Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi who could take everyone along. They couldn’t do so, but Narendra Modi did it. The BJP had never won a full majority. Narendra Modi ensured majority for the BJP,” he said.

“In 2014, for the first time after 1984, the country had a government at the helm with full majority. In 2009, Dr Manmohan Singh took help from other parties to form the government. After that, Narendra Modi unfolded his charisma, a fact which we cannot deny. But after Narendra Modi, who? There is no name coming forward,” he said.

Asked whether he was in favour of going alone in the Assembly elections, Ajit Pawar said, “If we (MVA) fight the elections unitedly, there is a chance of success. This was proved in the recent bypolls to Kasba and Chinchwad Assembly seats. In Kasba, we fought unitedly and won. In Chinchwad, the MVA lost because our rebel candidate ate into our votes. Otherwise, we would have won the Chinchwad seat as well.”

To a question whether he was “soft” on Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, Pawar said, “We have political differences but that does not mean we should rush onto each other so that we can be identified as political rivals. Maharashtra has its own culture. If someone is deliberately saying that we have some understanding among ourselves, then I can’t help it. Our birth dates are the same but the years are different…”

On Eknath Shinde’s rebellion in June last year, Pawar said, “We knew Eknath Shinde would rebel. We had alerted Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray about it. Though we had the reins in our hands, they managed it so well that we could not do anything. Uddhav Thackeray, as Chief Minister, had given all authority to Shinde to decide who would be officers in Thane district. All the civic and police officers were appointed by Shinde (then Cabinet minister). All the officers remained loyal to Shinde when he decided to escape to Surat along with some MLAs. Though Uddhav asked the officers to ensure that the vehicles escaping to Surat were turned back to Matoshree, the officers remained loyal to Shinde.”

Asked about the difference he felt while working under Prithviraj Chavan and Uddhav (as Chief Ministers), Pawar said, “Both had no experience of being an MLA. Prithviraj Chavan and I became MPs in 1991. He was from Karad and I was from Baramati. Chavan was consistently in Delhi. He worked in the PMO. He became the Chief Minister in 2010. Uddhav had no experience as an MLA. Nobody ever thought that three political parties would come together and form the Maha Vikas Aghadi. We worked under Uddhav with a sense of attachment. We worked for four years with Prithviraj. Sometimes you have no option… We were happy to work under Uddhav but we worked with Prithviraj on the directives of our seniors.”