I came here to apologise, I trusted wrong people: Sharad Pawar in Nashik

Drenched in rain, Sharad Pawar on Saturday addressed a rally in Nashik, his first stop in his state tour to redevelop the Nationalist Congress Party after its split by Ajit Pawar's mutiny. "I have come here to apologise. I erred in trusting some people. Won't repeat the mistake," Sharad Pawar said. In a jibe at nephew Ajit Pawar who called Sharad Pawar old, Pawar said people commenting on his age will have to pay heavily for it. Referring to PM Modi's recent speech in Bhopal in which he accused NCP leaders of corruption -- days before Ajit Pawar and his supporters joined the government-- Sharad Pawar said PM Modi should take action against the leaders whom he accused of corruption. "PM Modi has all the state machinery at his disposal," Sharad Pawar said. Read | 'Na tired hu, na retired': Sharad Pawar quotes Vajpayee to counter 'ageist' Ajit

Saturday's rally at Nashik amid incessant rain is an emotional outreach of the Sharad Pawar camp to the people as the battle of who the real NCP is intensified in the past one week. Ajit Pawar announced that he was chosen as the president of the NCP on June 30, two days before the oath as the deputy chief minister. Sharad Pawar refuted Ajit Pawar's claims and at the national executive meeting of the party in New Delhi he announced that all rebels will be disqualified from the party.

'If rebel leaders want to return'

"Nothing will be done from my end to escalate tensions.... if anyone wants to do a rethink, there is no problem...." But these leaders were no longer hatchlings, they had grown "powerful," he said, as quoted by PTI.

Number game between Sharad Pawar versus Ajit Pawar

Ajit Pawar claimed more MLAs on his side while Ajit Pawar camp's Praful Patel said there is no number game as there has been no split in the NCP at all. On a purported statement of Praful Patel that all actions of Sharad Pawar revolve around Supriya Sule – which Jayant Patil denied on Saturday – Sharad Pawar said Supriya Sule won the Lok Sabha election, while Praful Patel lost and even after his loss, he was sent to the Rajya Sabha.

'Don't raise the issue of my age'

In a message for one and all, Sharad Pawar urged not to raise the issue of his age as he said he would continue to lead the party. Earlier in the day, as he launched the mission to rebuild his party undertaking a state tour, Sharad Pawar said he is neither tired nor retired. Sharad Pawar's age, health as he is an oral cancer survivor came into discussion after Ajit Pawar openly attacked Sharad Pawar over his age and said it was time for him to retire from politics -- a comment that drew much flak from many senior politicians.