‘Disrespect us, but not our father’: Supriya Sule hits back at cousin Ajit Pawar for Sharad Pawar jibe

Nationalist Congress Party working president Supriya Sule on Wednesday hit back at Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar for taking a dig at her father and party veteran Sharad Pawar over his age.

“Disrespect us, but not our father (Sharad Pawar). This fight is against the Bharatiya Janata Party government. The BJP is the most corrupt party in the country,” Sule said in Mumbai.

Sule added that the original NCP is with Sharad Pawar and “the original symbol is us”. "They called the Nationalist Congress Party the 'Naturally Corrupt Party'... But when in need they take help from the NCP. The BJP is the most corrupt party and its not just me but others as well who are saying this. BJP made allegations about a ₹70,000 crore scam, bank scam and many more. Someone told me 'NCP Ka ICE ho gya'- ICE stands for Income Tax, CBI and ED," said Sule addressing NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) workers.

Addressing the party workers at MET College in Bandra, Ajit Pawar said, “You portrayed me as a villain in front of everyone. I still have deep respect for him (Sharad Pawar)...But you tell me, IAS officers retire at 60...even in politics - BJP leaders retire at 75. You can see the example of LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi...That allows the new generation to rise...You (Sharad Pawar) give us your blessings.”

“The other day, he went to YB Chavan memorial...I have also been there...but you are 83, aren't you going to stop? Give us your blessings and we will pray that you live a long life,” the Sharad Pawar's nephew said.

Ajit Pawar added his faction joined hands with the BJP for the development of the state and the fund for the MLAs.

In May this year Sharad Pawar had announced that he will step down as the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) national president but later took back his decision after protests.

Recalling a meeting in 2017 at Varsha Bungalow, the official residence of the Maharashtra chief minister, Ajit Pawar said, "On the orders of the senior leaders of the party, Chhagan Bhujbal, Jayant Patel, I and several others had gone there.

Several leaders from BJP were also there. There were discussions among us over cabinet portfolio allocation and positions of Guardian Ministers. But later our party took a step back."

Defending his decision to join the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government, the leader of Ajit Pawar faction, Praful Patel, who spoke before him at the Bandra MET centre said, "What is the objection to going with Bharatiya Janata Party?"

"When we could accept the ideology of Shiv Sena, then what is the objection to going with BJP? We have joined this alliance as an independent entity," Praful Patel said.

In 2015, BJP allied with PDP as no party could get a majority in the 2014 Assembly polls in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. However, in 2018, BJP pulled out of its coalition government with the PDP. He said they have joined the Eknath-Shinde government for the sake of the nation.

(With inputs from ANI)