Pune meeting with Sharad Pawar was apolitical, claims Ajit

Deputy CM Ajit Pawar admitted meeting NCP chief Sharad Pawar at a businessman's bungalow but insisted it was apolitical. The meeting has triggered speculations in political circles.

Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Tuesday admitted that he had met his uncle and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar at businessman Atul Chordia’s bungalow in Pune on August 12 but insisted that the meeting was apolitical.

Thane, India - August, 09, 2023: maharashtra deputy CM Ajit Pawar inaugurated the new thane central NCP office ( Ajhit Pawar Camp) on Wednesday in thane Flower valley service road , in Thane, in Mumbai, India, on,Wednesday, August, 09, 2023. ( Praful Gangurde / HT Photo )

“There is no reason to take the Pune meeting so seriously. Respected Pawar saheb has already clarified that he is the fatherly figure in the Pawar family. I am his nephew, and a family meeting has been blown out of proportion,” Ajit said, adding, “There is no reason to believe that something different took place in that meeting.”

The deputy chief minister, who rebelled against his uncle and joined the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government, claimed that it was Chordia who invited them for lunch as the two families shared relations for two generations.

“His father was Pawar saheb’s classmate. Chordia had invited Pawar saheb for lunch and Jayant (Patil) was with him. If a person having relations for two generations invited us for lunch, then there is no reason to take it otherwise,” he added.

The ‘secret’ meeting has not only triggered speculations in the political circles but also made the other Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies – Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress – upset and anxious over Pawar’s plan as Ajit faction has been trying to convince the veteran leader to come on his side.

Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole said Pawar’s secret meeting with Ajit was not right. His party colleague and leader of opposition in the assembly, Vijay Wadettiwar, said, “They can continue their meetings but should not allow destroying the state.”

Jitendra Awhad, NCP MLA, who is still loyal to Pawar, tried to clear the confusion. “Pawar saheb has made it clear that he will not compromise with his ideology at any cost.”

Significantly, it is the first time Ajit has denied any political discussion with Pawar. Last month, he met Pawar twice along with MLAs and announced that they were trying to convince his uncle to join the ruling parties to avoid a split in NCP.

Amid unease in the MVA, NCP has issued a teaser for Pawar’s rally at Beed on August 17 from where he will resume his statewide tour. After holding a rally at Yeola in Nashik district, a stronghold of rebel NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal, Pawar postponed the tour on account of heavy rain and the monsoon session of parliament that concluded on August 11.