Union minister Anurag Thakur mocked the Nationalist Congress Party Tuesday as senior leaders Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar firefight rumours of the latter’s shock switch from the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. “… some discussions keep taking place in the corridors of power… one should enjoy such news,” Thakur declared.
The sports minister’s jab came hours after Ajit Pawar, a two-time ex-Maharashtra deputy chief minister, made a public declaration of support to his party and NCP boss Sharad Pawar.
Ajit Pawar emphatically denied talk of him switching to the BJP and, equally emphatically, denied speculation that he is in touch with 40 of the party’s 53 MLAs over a similar switch.
“I am with NCP… not going anywhere (and) nobody (has) taken signatures of any MLAs. These are all baseless speculations,” Pawar told reporters. “I have not taken the signatures of any MLAs.”
Speculation over a switch was also batted away by Sharad Pawar this week, who blamed the media for publishing reports that undermined the party’s collective strength and will.
Meanwhile, Anurag Thakur – in Maharashtra as part of his party’s efforts to reach out to voters in parliamentary constituencies it lost in the 2019 election – said, “I am confident people will bless us. Prime minister Narendra Modi has empowered the poor through various schemes like housing and cooking gas…. Narendra Modi will receive the blessings of the poor, the middle class and traders.”
The BJP leader also slammed the opposition for its criticism of the BJP’s Uttar Pradesh government over the killing of gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad, who was murdered on live TV while in police custody. “These leaders never spoke when the same mafia attacked the common people. These leaders used to visit the homes of these mafia for tea and extend protection to them,” Thakur stated.
(With PTI inputs)
