Didn’t get opportunity as I am not Sharad Pawar’ son: Ajit Pawar
NCP chief Ajit Pawar said he would have got the opportunity to become the NCP president had he been the son of the “senior” leader
Pune: In an apparent reference to his uncle, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Ajit Pawar said on Thursday he would have got the opportunity to become the NCP president had he been the son of the “senior” leader.
Speaking at a party function, Ajit said he was accused of “stealing” the party founded by Sharad Pawar, but the Election Commission of India and Maharashtra assembly speaker gave rulings in his favour (affirming that the Ajit faction was the real NCP).
Addressing a rally at Shirur in Pune district, Ajit Pawar said, “I am also above 60. Do we have a chance or not? Are we behaving wrongly? That is why we get emotional. Pawar saheb is also our ‘daivat’ (like a God) and there is no doubt about it, but every person has his time. After crossing 80, new people should be given an opportunity. Had I been the son of NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar would I have not been given the opportunity? Yes, I would have got the opportunity. Just because I am not his son, I have not got the opportunity. What kind of justice is this?”
The deputy CM was campaigning for NCP’s Shirur Lok Sabha seat candidate Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil.
“Had I been born to the senior (leader), I would have also got the opportunity. Just because I wasn’t born there, I didn’t get opportunity,” said Ajit, who has been deputy chief minister for five times, Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) for six terms and Member of Parliament (MP) for two terms.
Reacting to Ajit’s remarks, his cousin and daughter of Sharad Pawar Supriya Sule said, “One should look at my career and his. The answer is clear.”
Notably, Baramati MP Sule has not held a ministerial post so far in her career.
Hitting back, MLA Jitendra Awhad, who belongs to the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar), asked why Ajit did not try and become party president through elections instead of launching a rebellion.
“Had Ajit Pawar not been Sharad Pawar’s nephew, he would not have got opportunities so early in his political life. That was why Ajit became an MP in 1991, an MLA in 1993 and then a (state) minister. From 1999 to 2014, Ajit held all important portfolios. His acts maligned the party’s image, but Sharad Pawar overlooked it because he was related to Ajit,” Awhad told reporters.
In July last year, Ajit Pawar and eight other Nationalist Congress Party MLAs joined the Eknath Shinde-BJP government in Maharashtra, leading to a split in the NCP founded by Sharad Pawar, 83.
