'He didn't respond': Ajit faction leaders meet Sharad Pawar in Mumbai

Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and several NCP leaders met party chief Sharad Pawar in Mumbai amid the battle for control over the Nationalist Congress Party. Ajit Pawar, who led the rebellion against his uncle, Praful Patel, ministers Dilip Walse Patil, Hasan Mushrif, Chhagan Bhujabal, Dhananjay Munde, Aditi Tatkare, and deputy speaker Narahari Zirwal were among the NCP leaders who met Pawar at the Y B Chavan Centre located near the state secretariat ‘Mantralaya’.

Praful Patel, who was one of the close aides of Sharad Pawar before the rebellion, said they wanted to seek the blessings of their “idol” and came without informing him.

“We came to seek blessings of our idol, Sharad Pawar,” Praful Patel told reporters. “We want to keep NCP united so we requested Pawarsaheb to consider it and guide us. He didn't respond, just heard us.”

“We came without informing him first. We came to know he was in office so we just landed here to seek his blessings,” he added.

NCP state president Jayant Patil and party leader Jitendra Awhad had also reached the Y B Chavan Centre.

“Ajit Pawar group expressed regret and urged Sharad Pawar to find a way out from the current complications in the party,” Patil said, adding that “we are firm on our stand.”

Patil said that the Sharad Pawar faction has the support of 19 MLAs and “If they (the rebels) wish to come back, we are always open for it.”

Another twist ahead of Opposition meet?

The development comes two days ahead of a key meeting of opposition parties in Bengaluru to take on the Narendra Modi-led BJP in the next Lok Sabha elections. The last such meeting, hosted by Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar in Patna, was attended by Sharad Pawar.

On Friday, Ajit Pawar visited Silver Oak, the official residence of the NCP supremo, to meet the latter's wife Pratibha Pawar after she underwent surgery at a hospital in Mumbai. Ajit Pawar is known to be close to his aunt Pratibha. In 2019, she reportedly played a crucial role in bringing him back to the NCP fold after he and Devendra Fadnavis formed a short-lived government after the Assembly polls.

(With PTI inputs)