In a shocking claim that may embarrass NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister and breakaway NCP leader Ajit Pawar said on Friday that Sr Pawar had himself asked the party workers to go on agitation to demand that he should take back his resignation as the party president in May this year.
Speaking at a “Chintan Shibir” of his party leaders and workers at Karjat in Raigad district. Ajit dada - as Ajit Pawar is known in the political circles - claimed that after he announced his resignation as the party president on May 2, Sr Pawar had called two of his confidants Jitendra Awhad, Anand Paranjpe and party’s women wing leaders and asked them to organise an agitation in front of the YB Chavan centre in south Mumbai.
“Excepting Awhad, there was not even a single MLA among the NCP functionaries who were agitating to demand Pawar sahib to take back his resignation,” Ajit dada said.
It may be recalled that Pawar had on May 2 this year dropped a bomb shell in the political circles by announcing his resignation as the NCP president. However, Pawar agreed to continue in the post on May 5 after hundreds of party workers had gone on a spontaneous agitation demanding that he take back his resignation, while party leaders met him on several occasions and tried to convince him to take back as continue in the post.
Ajitdada said that he and 10 to 12 MLAs and leaders, including Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse Patil, Dhananjay Munde, had expressed their intent to join the Eknath Shinde Shiv Sena-BJP government and they wanted Sr Pawar to take a decision in the matter. “Sharad Pawar called me on May 1 and said if he joined the Shinde-BJP government, he would resign as the NCP president. At that time no one had an idea that Pawar would resign from his post as the party president,” he said.
“After he announced his resignation from the party chief’s post, Pawar saheb Jitendra Awahad, Anand Paranjpe and women leaders and asked them to start agitation demanding withdrawal of his own resignation,” Ajitdada claimed
“After he took back his resignation, Sharad Pawar insisted that his Supriya Sule be made the patty’s national president. “Later, Pawar saheb did not like our decision to join the Shinde-BJP government on July 2. But on July 17, he assured he would streamline things. He again met at an industrialist’s place and assured me he would set things right. All the while, he was trying his trying to catch us unwares,” Ajit dada said.
The claims made by Ajitdada are in contrast to the revelation made by Sr Pawar’s MP daughter and party’s national working president Supriya Sule on October 12 an upset NCP President (Sr Pawar) had chosen to resign as the party chief’s post after several of the leaders from the Ajit Pawar camp insisted on joining hands with the BJP.
“My father never wanted to resign from his post as the NCP president’s post. But, after only several of the party leaders - currently belonging to the Ajit Pawar - insisted on joining hands with the BJP, Pawar saheb was pained by the insistence by this kind of a clamour within the party. He then resigned from the NCP chief’s post,” Supriya had said.
In another revelation, Supriya said that Sr Pawar had no knowledge about Ajit Pawar and eight of NCP senior MLAs being sworn in as ministers in the Eknath Shinde government on July 2. “The decision (to join the Eknath Shinde-led BJP-Shiv Sena government) was taken by keeping him (Sharad Pawar) in the dark,” she claimed.
Contesting several claims made by Ajit Pawar camp leader Chhagan Bhujbal in a television interview on the circumstances leading to Sharad Pawar’s resignation, Supriya said: “You people thought it was all a drama. He tendered his resignation from his post as he was hurt, after all the leaders ( now in the Ajit Pawar) wanted to team up with the BJP”.
“After Pawar saheb resigned from his party president’s post, all party leaders, party workers and people from across the state insisted that he continue as the party president. At that time, even Chhagan Bhujbal had insisted on continuing in the post as the party’s president,” she recalled.