PUNE: NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday said it was his nephew Ajit Pawar who had insisted on a pact with BJPbut he rejected the proposal due to ideological differences between the two parties.
He said if NCP’s Ajit Pawar camp wanted to side with BJP, it should not have fought the elections on NCP ticket.
The NCP chief’s comment came a day after Ajit, the deputy CM of Maharashtra, said he had consulted his uncle before joining the governing alliance of BJP-Shiv Sena in the state.Ajit had said this while addressing his supporters in Karjat at the two-day brainstorming session of his faction of NCP.
Ajit had claimed that though Pawar Sr was in favour of the move, he changed his stance later. He also said his uncle had voluntarily resigned as the chief of the party. Later, he asked a couple of party functionaries to stage demonstrations demanding withdrawal of his resignation, Ajit had claimed.
Reacting to his statements, Pawar Sr said: “I will not deny that there was a meeting (between us), but I had not initiated that meeting. They (Ajit and his supporters) had come to me and insisted that we should go with BJP. However, I was very clear that I did not want to follow that path due to our (NCP’s) ideological differences with BJP.”
NCP had fought the 2019 assembly elections in alliance with Congresswhile BJP had a poll pact with Shiv Sena.
“…We had not sought vote to go with BJP. If we had changed our ideological stand after the elections, it would have been perceived as cheating. I was very clear about not going with BJP,” Pawar Sr said. He said it was Ajit’s “political decision” to go with BJP. “However, he should have taken the decision before the 2019 assembly elections. It is their (Ajit camp’s) right to take a decision. I have only one complaint – they should have taken that call before the elections,” he said.
“When the elections were announced, they filled up the NCP form and sought vote in the name of our party. After the elections, they changed their stance and took a call that is against the party’s ideology. That was not right,” Pawar Sr said.
He said if NCP’s Ajit Pawar camp wanted to side with BJP, it should not have fought the elections on NCP ticket.
The NCP chief’s comment came a day after Ajit, the deputy CM of Maharashtra, said he had consulted his uncle before joining the governing alliance of BJP-Shiv Sena in the state.Ajit had said this while addressing his supporters in Karjat at the two-day brainstorming session of his faction of NCP.
Ajit had claimed that though Pawar Sr was in favour of the move, he changed his stance later. He also said his uncle had voluntarily resigned as the chief of the party. Later, he asked a couple of party functionaries to stage demonstrations demanding withdrawal of his resignation, Ajit had claimed.
Reacting to his statements, Pawar Sr said: “I will not deny that there was a meeting (between us), but I had not initiated that meeting. They (Ajit and his supporters) had come to me and insisted that we should go with BJP. However, I was very clear that I did not want to follow that path due to our (NCP’s) ideological differences with BJP.”
NCP had fought the 2019 assembly elections in alliance with Congresswhile BJP had a poll pact with Shiv Sena.
“…We had not sought vote to go with BJP. If we had changed our ideological stand after the elections, it would have been perceived as cheating. I was very clear about not going with BJP,” Pawar Sr said. He said it was Ajit’s “political decision” to go with BJP. “However, he should have taken the decision before the 2019 assembly elections. It is their (Ajit camp’s) right to take a decision. I have only one complaint – they should have taken that call before the elections,” he said.
“When the elections were announced, they filled up the NCP form and sought vote in the name of our party. After the elections, they changed their stance and took a call that is against the party’s ideology. That was not right,” Pawar Sr said.