Attacking me will cost you, NCP chief Sharad Pawar warns nephew Ajit

Sharad Pawar on Saturday warned the rebels, including his nephew and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, against personal attack on him.

Nashik/Yeola: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday warned the rebels, including his nephew and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, against personal attack on him. “It is true I have turned 82, but you still don’t know me well. Do not go on my age, else it will cost you dearer,” the Pawar senior said.

NCP Chief Sharad Pawar with Amol Kolhe at Yeola to address his first rally, Nashik in Maharashtra, India, on Saturday. (Photo by Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

The veteran leader kicked off his state tour at Yeola in Nashik, the assembly constituency of his three-decade old aide Chhagan Bhujbal.

Holding a rally at Yeola, more than 255-km away from Mumbai, Sharad Pawar said, “You can criticise my policy and programmes but no personal attacks.”

Sharad Pawar, a veteran of many battles who refused to join hands with the BJP and has chosen to take on the rebels after a vertical split in his 24-years old party, set out for a tour targeting the constituencies of prominent rebel MLAs, which began with bastion of Bhujbal, whom he had appointed as the first state president of NCP and deputy chief minister twice.

For the rally, Sharad Pawar left Mumbai in the morning and travelled to Nashik by road.

Apologising to the people for selecting Bhujbal as NCP candidate from Yeola, Sharad Pawar said, “Normally, my judgement about people is not wrong but in this case, I erred. I seek your apology for the same. Now, I will rectify the mistake.”

In his short speech at a packed APMC market in Yeola, the veteran leader dared Modi to use all his might and take stern action against those who were found involved in corruption from his party.

“As the NCP president, I am telling this to you from a public platform, if you believe that someone from us is involved in corrupt activities, use all your powers, conduct a thorough investigation and if they are found involved, take stern action against them. We will support you,” Pawar remarked.

He was responding to the statement made by the PM last week where he had accused the NCP of being involved in a ₹70,000 crore irrigation scam among others.

In the afternoon, while talking to mediapersons in Nashik city, he made it clear that the age was just another number to him. “Na tired hun, na retired hun (neither tired, nor retired),” Pawar said, stressing that he is not going to retire from active politics as of now.

He argued that age could not be a factor if one is healthy and fit to work. “Morarji Desai was 84 when he was elected as prime minister,” he pointed out.

Though Pawar senior denied choosing Nashik to start his tour because of Bhujbal, he slammed the latter for his rebellion and said this shows one’s character. “But I will not blame him. It was my fault that I failed to understand him,” he said, taking a jibe at the former confidante.

Taking potshots at Praful Patel, who has accused Sharad Pawar of handing over NCP affairs to his daughter and MP Supriya Sule.

“Patel was taken in the Union cabinet as civil aviation minister for two terms despite him losing Lok Sabha elections. He was also made Rajya Sabha member for two terms. The party chose Suryakanta Patil, Patel and Agatha Sangma as ministers in the Central government. Supriya was also an MP for three terms and there was no issue in selecting her as minister,” the former union agriculture minister said.

Accusing the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for plotting to finish regional parties, the NCP leader said, “It appears to be the BJP’s attempt to finish regional parties. They are doing it at many places.”

He insisted that the Opposition party is important for a democratic country just like the ruling party. “We have to fight if BJP is trying to weaken the opposition,” he added. He recalled that he has seen so many prime ministers right from Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to Dr Manmohan Singh and none of them ever tried to choke their voices.

Sharad Pawar’s rally was attended by a few thousand people mainly from the agrarian community. According to his aides, the NCP patriarch wanted to make direct contact with the farmers who were in distress and thus purposely chose the location.

Sharad Pawar began his tour from his residence in south Mumbai at around 8.30 on Saturday morning. During the entire stretch he was welcomed by party leaders and workers at more than two dozen places including Thane, Bhiwandi, Padgha, Shahapur and Igatpuri. Opposition leader Jitendra Awhad and member of Parliament Amol Kolhe were accompanying him in his car while daughter and NCP working president Supriya Sule was travelling in her own vehicle.

Ajit, who was also considered his protege, rebelled against Pawar’s leadership by joining the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance government last Sunday. While the Ajit-led faction has staked claim on the party name and symbol, Pawar has declared that he would rebuild the party.

Pawar is likely to continue his tour for around two months, NCP insiders said. He will take a week long break after the Nashik visit due to heavy rains in the region and will then continue the tour.

Sule stressed that she would have become a minister in the central government but chose her ideology over ministership. “Do you think I would have not got a position in the union cabinet if I too would have gone but for me ideology is more important. Ministries keep coming and going,” she said while addressing the Yeola rally.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra BJP vice-president Madhav Bhandari said that Sharad Pawar was trying to hold them responsible for his own failure. “It was him who failed to keep his family and party united. Those, who were with him for around 50 years, have left him,” Bhandari said, adding that Sharad Pawar has been splitting various parties for all his life starting with Congress, later Shiv Sena (Chhagan Bhujbal) and also BJP (Dhananjay Munde).