Hours after the report was published, Patel tweeted, “I completely deny any such conversation regarding Smt Supriya Sule. No such Interview is given by me!”
The report accurately quotes remarks made by Patel in a 26-minute conversation he had with Executive Editor P Vaidyanathan Iyer on Friday morning. The Indian Express stands by its report.
When asked how much the ED (Enforcement Directorate) and Anti-Corruption Bureau cases against key leaders including Ajit Pawar, Hasan Mushrif, Chhagan Bhujbal and Sunil Tatkare weigh in his and Ajit Pawar’s mind, Patel said, “Agencies have found nothing against me… ED is the last reason… these ED cases do not concern the party workers… they only expect their work to be done, and that can happen when you are in power.”
Asked if the tie-up was also an insurance against action by agencies, Patel said, even Sharad Pawar “flirted” more than once with the BJP in the past. “In 2014, he offered outside support to BJP… even in 2019, when Ajit Pawar was sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister, it was with Sharad Pawar’s full knowledge… you will also remember that Sharad Pawar himself said he was talking to the BJP then… again in 2022, when Eknath Shinde led many Shiv Sena MLAs to Surat and Guwahati, Sharad Pawar had asked me, Jayant Patil and Ajit Pawar to see if we can ally with the BJP. But then it was too late, Shinde’s tie-up with BJP was done,” he said.
When it was pointed out to him that just a few weeks ago, he was with Sharad Pawar at the Opposition meeting in Patna, Patel, 66, said, “The picture in Patna was not inspiring… they (parties in the Opposition) keep on saying they will take on Modi (Prime Minister Narendra Modi)… who and how will the Opposition take on Modi, there is no plan; they do not inspire any confidence.”
Story continues below this ad
Arguing that the party workers and supporters were confused with Sharad Pawar’s stance, Patel disagreed that Ajit Pawar’s NCP had made an ideological compromise in a bid to regain power. He said, “Sharad Pawar has flirted with BJP at least thrice since 2014… and in 2019 after elections, he decided to ally with Shiv Sena… he could have remained as a principled Opposition, but he chose to ally with Congress and Shiv Sena…”
The future of the party (NCP) was at stake, Patel said. “NCP once shared power equally with the Congress when their coalition was in power; then it allied with Shiv Sena too… but at 82, when Sharad Pawar chose to ignore Ajit Pawar, who is very popular in the party, in favour of his daughter… it became very confusing… As Ajit Pawar said after being sworn in as Deputy CM, he was being villainised for no fault of his own,” he said.
According to Patel, on June 30 itself, at a meeting at Ajit Pawar’s residence Devgiri in Mumbai, signed affidavits of 41 MLAs were ready. “The same day, we handed over documents to the Election Committee — one which stated that Ajit Pawar had been elected the President of NCP, with an affidavit of support signed by 41 MLAs. The other from Ajit Pawar which said that he represented the Nationalist Congress Party.”
