Pawar rebukes Ajit over ‘lost credibility’

While speaking to party workers, Pawar urged them to ignore the allegations made by those who had left the party

Pune/Mumbai: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday dismissed charges levelled by his nephew Ajit Pawar, who claimed his uncle had asked him to join the Eknath Shinde-led government but distanced himself from the same later.

Mumbai, India - Dec. 12, 2019: NCP Chief Sharad Pawar meets his party supporters on his 79th birthday at Y B Chavan Centre, Nariman Point in Mumbai, India, on Thursday, December 12, 2019. (Photo by Kunal Patil/Hindustan Times) (Kunal Patil/HT Photo)

“Those who have lost their credibility are saying things to mislead the people,” Pawar told media persons after a meeting with party leaders in Pune. He denied all allegations made by Ajit Pawar and said he and his nephew were not on the same page ahead of the split in the party.

“People did not vote for us to join the BJP. Some of our leaders were asking me to join hands with the BJP but I never accepted it. All our leaders used to meet me and propose various things, as I was the senior leader. Some of them proposed to join the BJP, but I never accepted it,” stated Pawar.

Earlier, while speaking to party workers, he urged them to ignore the allegations made by those who had left the party. “These leaders do not have any answers to people’s questions. That is why they are resorting to such allegations,” Pawar said, without mentioning Ajit Pawar or his colleagues by name.

He told party colleagues that the next assembly in the state would have several new faces from the party. “Do not think about who left us. Rather, it helped us cleanse our organisation, and will provide more opportunities for young leaders in the coming election.”

Responding to reporters’ queries regarding Ajit’s claim of a meeting between Sharad Pawar and rebel camp leaders after the split, Pawar said he had not even invited Ajit Pawar to meet him at his YB Chavan Center office in Nariman Point. On allegations that he had asked some leaders to stage protests after his resignation, he said, “I was the president of the party. If I resigned, I didn’t need anybody’s permission to withdraw the same.”

Pawar also taunted Ajit, saying some of his colleagues rushed to join the BJP after prime minister Narendra Modi spoke about the ₹70,000 crore irrigation scam in Maharashtra in one of his rallies.

The veteran politician also responded to his long-time colleague and Ajit faction leader Praful Patel, who said that Pawar had discussed joining the BJP camp back in 2004. “They (senior BJP leaders) were insisting that I join the NDA under Vajpayee, but I did not want to be an ally of the BJP. Patel was asking me to join the BJP camp for the past several years, but I clearly told him that he could personally join the BJP if he wanted.”

He also rebuked Patel’s statement about revealing several things in a book he is writing, saying “I am looking forward to it. He should write why the Enforcement Directorate sealed some floors of his house.”