No second chance to Ajit, says Pawar

The Congress too reacted strongly. Party’s state president Nana Patole sarcastically said Pawar must have convinced Ajit to return to NCP. “Pawar saheb is a senior and experienced leader and Ajit wanted to return to the party fold after his meeting with the former

Two months after Ajit Pawar joined the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government with a group of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLAs, party president Sharad Pawar on Friday made it clear that he would not give a second chance to his rebel nephew.

No second chance to Ajit, says Pawar

“An opportunity was given to Ajit in November 2019 when he, along with a splinter group of NCP MLAs, chose to form the government with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Ajit should not seek it again,” he said at a rally in Kolhapur.

On Friday morning, Pawar at a press conference in Baramati reiterated that there was no split in the party and Ajit was still an NCP leader though he had taken a different stand.

His remarks irked the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi allies.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said, “There is no doubt that there is a split in NCP and people will make decisions about those who are trying to sail on two boats.”

The Congress too reacted strongly. Party’s state president Nana Patole sarcastically said Pawar must have convinced Ajit to return to NCP. “Pawar saheb is a senior and experienced leader and Ajit wanted to return to the party fold after his meeting with the former. It appears from Pawar’s statements that he had succeeded in changing Ajit’s mind and soon he will return to his party.” Patole was referring to a ‘secret meeting’ between the uncle and his nephew in Pune on August 12.

Hours later, when Pawar reached Satara on his way to Kolhapur, he changed his stand and took a strong line against Ajit.

“If a person has taken a stand and later decided to correct it, then that correction needs to be accepted. Accordingly, the party gave him (Ajit) another chance (in 2019),” Pawar said, recalling the early morning swearing-in ceremony of Ajit as deputy chief minister and Fadnavis as chief minister. “But an opportunity cannot be sought again and again and if sought, it cannot be given again and again.”

The former union minister also attacked BJP. Addressing a rally at Dussehra Maidan in Kolhapur, Pawar said the BJP and its allies would have to be defeated if people wanted to do get relief from inflation, unemployment and agrarian distress.

Pawar also targeted NCP MLA Hasan Mushrif for siding with Ajit. “I was expecting courage from him (Mushrif) the way it was shown by female members of his family in response to a notice issued by the Enforcement Directorate and raids conducted by other central agencies. The female members of his family told the officers to shoot them instead of harassing them, but the head of the family chose to follow orders of BJP.”

Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj, a 12th descendant of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji, spoke at the rally and extended his support to the NCP chief. Pawar’s grandnephew Rohit Pawar also held a bike rally in the district.

It was Pawar’s third public event as part of his statewide tour to rebuild the party. His next rally will be in Jalgaon on September 5.