Ajit Pawar faction meets Sharad Pawar, proposes to keep party united

Speaking after the meeting, Praful Patel said they have requested Pawar to take steps to keep the party intact. He told media persons that they met the senior Pawar to seek his blessings

Two weeks after the rebellion, Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, along with his faction of National Congress Party (NCP) leaders on Sunday, met NCP chief Sharad Pawar. The ministers who recently were sworn in to be part of chief minister Eknath Shinde-led government were also present in the meeting.

The group of leaders led by deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar called on senior Pawar senior at YB Chavan Centre in Nariman Point on Sunday afternoon (HT photo / Anshuman Poyrekar)

Earlier this month, nine NCP leaders, including Ajit Pawar, were inducted into the Maharashtra cabinet after a split in the party.

The group of leaders led by Ajit Pawar called on senior Pawar senior at YB Chavan Centre in Nariman Point on Sunday afternoon.

Ajit Pawar was accompanied by senior leader and party’s working president Praful Patel, deputy chairman of assembly Narhari Zirwal, ministers Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse Patil, Hasan Mushrif, Dhananjay Munde, Sanjay Bansode, Aditi Tatkare, among others.

According to the people familiar with the matter, the rebel leaders requested senior Pawar to consider options to keep the party united to which the party chief has not reacted.

The unscheduled meeting took place for about half an hour, said the people mentioned above.

Speaking after the meeting, Praful Patel said they have requested Pawar to take steps to keep the party intact. He told media persons that they met the senior Pawar to seek his blessings. “We met Pawar Saheb at his office without informing him. It was an unscheduled meeting. We met him and took his blessings as he is our idol. We want the party to be kept united and we requested him to consider. He has not reacted to it,” he said.

Jayant Patil, state unit chief of NCP, said that the leaders have expressed regrets for rebellion.

“The rebel faction that met the party chief has expressed regrets for the rebellion. I do not think they have given us any proposal. They spoke about the efforts to keep the party intact,” he said.

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

On Friday, chief minister Shinde distributed fresh portfolios to the newly inducted NCP ministers and Ajit Pawar got crucial finance and planning portfolio. Ajit Pawar, who was also the finance minister in the previous Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, snapped ties and joined the Shinde faction by gaining the support of 29 NCP MLAs. Whereas, 19 MLAs are still with the senior Pawar.

This was the first meeting between Sharad Pawar and the Ajit Pawar-led faction after he rebelled against his uncle and joined the Eknath Shinde-led government on July 2.

On Friday, Ajit Pawar visited Silver Oak in Mumbai, the official residence of the NCP chief, to meet the latter’s wife Pratibha Pawar after she underwent surgery at a hospital here.