Ajit’s justification to split NCP: Pressure was to work for people, not to join govt

Before the rally, Ajit put up a show of strength by holding several road shows right from Pune to Kolhapur for the entire day. He started the day by holding a roadshow covering several areas of Pune city. By afternoon he left for Kolhapur and on his way he was felicitated by the supporters at various places

Mumbai: Justifying his act of splitting the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to join the coalition government led by Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Sunday said he and his ministers joined the government to serve the people and to complete pending development works. He asserted that they were not under pressure from anyone.

Pune, Sep 10 (ANI): Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar holds a roadshow, in Pune on Sunday. (ANI Photo) (ANI)

Ajit was speaking at a rally at Tapovan Maidan in Kolhapur. It was his second rally after Beed which he had started in response to party patriarch Sharad Pawar’s statewide rallies.

“Some have claimed we (rebel NCP group) were under pressure (to join the government). Yes, we were under pressure but for completing development works that were pending after the fall of the MVA government,” Ajit said.

Speaking on being criticised for defecting, Ajit said it is an attempt to defame them. “We are sons of a Maratha and of a farmer. Maharashtra knows me well that I always tell the truth and that too openly,” he said.

Before the rally, Ajit put up a show of strength by holding several road shows right from Pune to Kolhapur for the entire day. He started the day by holding a roadshow covering several areas of Pune city. By afternoon he left for Kolhapur and on his way he was felicitated by the supporters at various places. He also addressed small gatherings at a few places. It was similar to the strategy of senior Pawar who is also trying to meet as many people during his travel for public rallies.

Further justifying his decision, the deputy chief minister also praised Union Cooperation Minister Amit Shah for waiving off income tax worth thousands of crores on the sugar mills. “We met many union finance ministers from Pranab Mukherjee to P Chidambaram but to no avail. It was Amit Shah who waived off the income tax on sugar mills which would have brought farmers in trouble and mill owners would not be in a position to pay FRP (fair and remunerative price),” he said and insisted, “Why should we not support them (BJP).”

On July 2, Ajit joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government as deputy chief minister by claiming to have the support of 40 of 53 MLAs of NCP. The same day he also declared to have made a claim on the party’s name and election symbol before the election commission. The poll body is yet to start hearing the claims made by the rebel NCP group.