SPEAKING at a party rally after a show of strength in Kolhapur, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said he will retire from politics if it is proved that all NCP ministers and MLAs had not given a letter for joining hands with the BJP after the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government fell in June 2022. “When the Uddhav Thackeray government fell, all NCP ministers and MLAs had given a letter to party leaders to join the 'mahayuti'. If this is not true, then I will retire from politics. If this is true, then those who are lying should retire from politics,” Pawar said in his address to party workers and leaders. Without naming NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Ajit Pawar said, “You must be thinking why Ajit Pawar and others took this decision (of joining the 'mahayuti'). Some people (Sharad Pawar) say we were under pressure. Yes, we were under pressure. But I want to tell you that we had pressure to work in the interest of the people.” Pawar said when they were in MVA for two and half years, they undertook several public-oriented projects. “We felt the pressure of completing the projects we had started. There was a stay on projects undertaken by our MLAs, we had pressure of getting the stay lifted. Therefore, we joined the government. What is wrong in joining the government ? Other than this, there was no other pressure on us,” he said. “We are Marathas, we are children of farmers. We will not fall prey to any pressure. There is an attempt to defame us. But it is baseless. I want to tell you that the NCP is treading the path shown by Phule, Shahu, Ambedkar.'' In July, Ajit Pawar and 40 NCP MLAs joined the BJP-led Shinde-Fadnavis government in Maharashtra.
