Journalism of Courage
‘With Sharad Pawar,’ grand-nephew Yugendra says, but doubts BJP tie-up
Yugendra Pawar dismissed speculations of an NCP(SP)-BJP alliance, saying the parties have different ideologies while reaffirming his support for Sharad Pawar.
Yugendra Pawar (File Photo)
NCP(SP) chief Sharad Pawar’s grandnephew Yugendra Pawar, 32, Sunday dismissed speculations of the party allying with the BJP, but said he will support the party president even if such a decision were taken.
Yugendra Pawar, the son of Ajit Pawar’s younger brother, had contested the 2024 assembly elections from the Baramati assembly constituency against his uncle. He had lost by one lakh votes but brought down Ajit Pawar’s margin of victory by more than 70,000 votes compared to the 2019 elections.
“I will be with Sharad Pawar saheb all the time… I will be with him wherever he goes,” Yugendra Pawar told The Indian Express, adding that “speculations [on NCP(SP)-BJP alliance] have been going around for quite some time now. This is all politics. I still don’t believe that the NCP(SP) will join hands with the BJP because both the parties have different ideologies.”
Describing “politics as the art of the possible”, the young Pawar scion said, “Anything can happen in the next three years [until the 2029 Lok Sabha polls]. Even the likes of Mamata Banerjee had once joined hands with the BJP… Similarly, nobody ever thought that the Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray would join hands with the Congress. But it happened.”
NCP(SP) general secretary Sunil Mane also clarified, “Pawar saheb has told us that there is no chance of us aligning with the BJP. And, therefore, we are busy rebuilding our party in the state.”
NCP(SP) spokesperson Ankush Kakade, known for his proximity to Sharad Pawar, said, “We are tired of answering the question regarding the possibility of us joining hands with the BJP. Our party leader has also spoken about it several times. Let the speculations continue; we cannot stop them.”
Meanwhile, NCP(SP) sources said party leaders like Jayant Patil and Harshavardhan Patil are putting pressure on Sharad Pawar’s daughter and Baramati MP Supriya Sule to go for an alliance with the BJP.
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The sources said that Sule, on her part, has been in constant touch with BJP leaders like Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. In the last one month alone, Sule, along with her father Sharad Pawar, first met PM Modi, and then she had a meeting with Shah, accompanied by party MP Bajrang Sonawane.
NCP(SP) leaders said a video of Sule touching the feet of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has also gone viral, highlighting her growing proximity to BJP leaders.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
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