Ajit Pawar Group Call on Sharad Pawar to Seek his “Blessings,” Want to “Keep the Party United”

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, July 16: In yet another surprise development in Maharashtra, the breakaway group of the Nationalist Congress Party led by the deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, on Sunday held an impromptu meeting with the party patriarch Sharad Pawar just 10 days after advising the veteran to “retire from politics.”

The group who met the veteran leader a day before the commencement of monsoon session of the Maharashtra Assembly on Monday, not only included all the nine NCP ministers including Ajit Pawar, but also the party’s erstwhile working president Praful Patel, a very close confidant of Sharad Pawar for years, whose rebellion is said to had hurt the veteran leader the most.

Praful Patel termed as “God” for Sharad Pawar who, Ajit Pawar had claimed a day after his rebellion to have been “removed” as the party national president and he himself had taken over the charge of the party.

“We had come to take blessings from our God, our leader Sharad Pawar ji and touch his feet. We had come voluntarily and without seeking his appointment. We understood Sharad Pawar reached here for a meeting and that’s why we all came here to take his blessings,” he said.

“We requested Sharad Pawar to keep the party united and guide us in the near future. He (Sharad Pawar) did not reply to this. He quietly heard us all,” said Praful Patel, the NCP Rajya Sabha MP who is one of the key supporters of Ajit Pawar. The deputy chief minister did not comment on the meeting.

Patel said he also requested Sharad Pawar that all of them respect him a lot but NCP should be together, and even he should think properly about this and help them in the future. “Sharad Pawar didn’t reply to us, he just kept on listening to what we were saying and after meeting him, we are going back,” he said.

Sharad Pawar camp’s Jayant Patil confirmed that the rebels expressed regret over the division within the party, and appealed to the senior leader to find a solution to the issue so that the party remains united. He, too, said Sharad Pawar listened, but said nothing to them.

“The meeting happened all of a sudden. We have already cleared our stand. We will sit with Sharad Pawar and discuss this, and then we would be able to give a clear reply. In the Maharashtra assembly, we haven’t supported the government and that’s why the Speaker will arrange a proper place for us to sit (in the opposition),” he said. Jayant Patil further claimed they have 20 MLAs and some are supporting both sides. “All of them agree to the ideology of Sharad Pawar,” he added.

On the opposition parties discussing the Leader of Opposition issue, the party which has the maximum number of MLAs in opposition will have the LoP, he said. “We had the LoP with us, but the post is vacant as Ajit Pawar resigned and now the party which will have maximum number of MLAs in opposition will have the LoP post,” Patil said, and reiterated that Sharad Pawar’s NCP is with the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress.

Ajit Pawar, after a meeting with NCP leaders loyal to him at his residence Devgiri Bungalow, headed to the YB Chavan Centre to meet Sharad Pawar. Jayant Patil, who was in the meeting with opposition parties ahead of the monsoon session, was also called to YB Chavan by Supriya Sule.

All the nine MLAs who took the oath along with Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare were present in the meeting. Sharad Pawar, Supriya Sule, Jayant Patil, and Jitendra Awhad were also present. This was the first meeting between Sharad Pawar and the group-led by Ajit Pawar after he rebelled against his uncle and joined the Eknath Shinde government on July 2.

Ajit Pawar two days back had also visited Silver Oak, the official residence of the NCP supremo, to meet his aunt Pratibha Pawar after she was discharged from hospital following a surgery at the Breach Candy Hospital in south Mumbai on Friday. 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 post the Assembly polls.

Fondly known as ‘kaki’ among NCP leaders, Pratibha Pawar is often viewed as the matriarch of the party but has never been active in politics.

Ajit Pawar Pratibha Pawar on Saturday had said he has the right to visit his family. “I hold all the rights to meet my family. My aunt (Pratibha Pawar) was not keeping well and was hospitalised, so I went to meet her after she was discharged,” Ajit Pawar said. The development came after Pratibha Pawar underwent surgery at the Breach Candy Hospital in south Mumbai on Friday. This was Ajit Pawar’s first visit to Sharad Pawar’s residence after he rebelled against his uncle and joined the Eknath Shinde government on July 2.

However, the grand-nephew of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Rohit Pawar on Saturday said the party chief believes that BJP broke the Pawar family and the party. “NCP chief Sharad Pawar believes that BJP broke the family and the party…If BJP is answerable for all, then the main target will be BJP. It (BJP) will always try to create a tussle between Uddhav Thackeray and the Shinde faction. The BJP is trying to create a dispute between the ministers of NCP and those who have joined the Shinde faction to waste time. In all this, BJP – which is the main target – gets sidelined,” Rohit Pawar said.

Jayant Patil said he and his group stand firm on the position taken and if those who left decide to return then that would certainly be a happy development.

Hours before the meeting of NCP ministers with Sharad Pawar, Deputy CM Ajit Pawar had held a meeting of all NCP ministers. Sources informed that Ajit Pawar had asked all party ministers to avoid attacks on NCP colleagues who are still with Sharad Pawar. “He (Ajit Pawar) said since we are in power now, there will be criticism by NCP MLAs who are with Sharad Pawar. Despite this, we need not attack them in the same manner. Instead, it would be wise to not indulge in name calling or attacking those MLAs with whom we have worked for so many years,” one of the ministers said.

The meeting, incidentally, came after a public mood survey was conducted by a regional media house. The survey shows that 43.6 per cent of people have sided with Sharad Pawar while only 23.1 per cent favour Ajit Pawar. Around 56.8 per cent of voters have expressed unhappiness over the NCP joining the Shinde-Fadnavis government compared to 20.4 per cent who are happy with the decision.