Journalism of Courage
A day after his nephew and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar accused him of creating a rift in the family, NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar took a dig at him on Tuesday for parting ways to get the post of deputy chief minister despite he being given the same four times by NCP.
“Whenever we were brought to power in the state, we used to discuss who would be the deputy chief minister. Four times, the deputy chief minister (Ajit Pawar) was from Baramati and our party (NCP). The fifth time, with support of the BJP, he took the post,” said senior Pawar.
He added, “Five years ago, voters had elected him (Ajit Pawar) as an NCP candidate; then why did he take help from others (BJP) for it?” Sharad Pawar said as he appealed to the voters to elect NCP (SP) candidate Yugendra Pawar during the launch of the election campaign in Baramati.
Yugendra Pawar is the son of Shrinivas Pawar, Ajit Pawar’s brother, and has remained close to Sharad Pawar.
Yugendra is pitted against his uncle Ajit Pawar in Baramati which is witnessing tussle for supremacy within the Pawar family.
Responding specifically to the allegations raised by Ajit Pawar, Sharad Pawar said, “An early morning oath taking ceremony was conducted by those among us (Ajit Pawar). The post of deputy chief minister would have anyway been with us after four months. Was it necessary to break the family for a post? I don’t have the habit of creating a rift. I have always stood to keep the family together.”
Sharad Pawar said he being the head of the Pawar family will never create a distance from any member of the family but will not support any wrongdoing. “I have not been taught by my parents or elder brothers to create a rift in the family,” he said, stressing that the Pawar family had always stayed together with specific roles assigned to everyone.
On Ajit Pawar getting emotional on Monday, the veteran leader while mimicking his nephew said, “They were saying I would shed tears and get emotional while seeking votes for Supriya Sule in Lok Sabha. The issue is not of emotions but of ideology and principles.”
Pawar said he never appeared in the court in the past but those who parted ways made him appear in court. “I was served summons as the main person in the court in the case on staking claim on NCP and its symbol by those who parted ways. I appeared after the summons by the Election Commission. In the case, both names (petitioner and respondent) were Pawar. This had never taken place in my life,” Sharad Pawar said.
Senior Pawar added that the UPA government under Manmohan Singh had approved the Airbus manufacturing factory in Nagpur but Prime Minister Narendra Modi forced it to shift to Gujarat and the same was done with the factory to manufacture semiconductors.
“Modi is the Prime Minister of the country not a state but he only thought of his state and not the country. It is because of that Maharashtra, which was on the top in the industrial sector for decades, had fallen to the fifth position in the country. Those who took away jobs from youths should not be supported in the Assembly elections.”
He said the ruling Mahayuti alliance is anti-farmer as its decision had adverse impact on the earnings of the farmers.
