Back in 2023, when Ajit Pawar (along with other ministers) broke ties with Sharad Pawar to take oath with the Maharashtra government, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founder was 50% ready to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), but things could not happen because of his ‘last-minute hesitation’, claimed NCP leader Praful Patel on Wednesday.
“On 2nd July 2023, when Ajit Pawar and our ministers took oath with Maharashtra govt, we met Sharad Pawar on 15th-16th July and requested him to join us. Later, Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar met in Pune. He was also 50% ready…Sharad Pawar always hesitates at the last minute,” Patel told news agency ANI.
In July 2023, Ajit Pawar took oath as the deputy chief minister in the Eknath Sinde-Devendra Fadnavis government in Maharashtra. After the oath-taking ceremony, Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar met in Pune, said Praful Patel.
Last year, the former Maharashtra chief minister suffered a major setback after the original name and symbol of the party was alloted to his nephew Ajit Pawar by the Election Commission. After the incident took place, Sharad Pawar, who now leads the NCP-Sharad Chandra Pawar faction, vowed never to join hands with the saffron party.
Preparing his party for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Sharad Pawar said that he will fight the BJP in the coming general elections. Before the party split, Ajit Pawar had expressed his unhappiness at the fact that Sharad Pawar continues to lead the party. In 2019, he tried to split the party one more time, after he took oath as deputy chief minister to Devendra Fadnavis. At that time, Sharad Pawar had managed to control the damage.
In 2023, Ajit Pawar and eight other leaders tried to exit the party one more time and joined the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance. Praful Patel was also among the rebel NCP leaders who joined the BJP alliance last year. Patel is now a Rajya Sabha MP.
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Published: 10 Apr 2024, 05:09 PM IST