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NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar said Ajit Pawar may be the Maharashtra Deputy CM now, but the people of Baramati know him as someone who started his political career with Congress ideology
NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar said in all the previous elections, Ajit Pawar fought against the BJP but now he is sitting with them and contesting from Baramati. (Image: PTI/File)
The contest in Baramati is about ideology, and the people have opposed the BJP in this assembly constituency for a long time, said NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar. He said his nephew and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has left behind his own party’s ideology to support the saffron party and voters will not like this at all.
“The contest in Baramati is about ideology. We have been contesting elections for years, but we have distanced ourselves from and opposed the BJP. People in Baramati have opposed the BJP for years, and people will not like it. This is not personal… He (Ajit Pawar) has left NCP ideology and is now supporting the BJP,” Sharad Pawar told CNN-News18 in an exclusive interview, ahead of the assembly election on November 20.
He further said Ajit ‘Dada’ is the deputy chief minister, which is his first office, but people in Baramati know him as someone who started his political career with Congress ideology. His position as MLA is his second office, he added. In this all-important Pawar family seat, Ajit Pawar is up against his own nephew Yugendra Pawar, who has been fielded by the rival NCP faction.
The NCP veteran said in all the previous elections, Ajit fought against the BJP but now he is sitting with them and contesting. “People are seeing the kind of statements that Ajit ‘Dada’ is making, which will go against him eventually,” he said.
He said if the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) forms the government, it will not only provide reservation to Muslims alone but also to Marathas, Other Backward Class (OBC) and Dhangars. He added that not only reservation, but the alliance will work towards providing better facilities for these communities.
On a statement by Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis that Baramati MP and daughter Supriya Sule is the possible CM face for the MVA, he said: “This is her fourth term in the Lok Sabha. She has never thought to come to the state. Fadnavis has no other issues, that’s why he is saying this.”
Pawar said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj to be erected in the sea, but that was six years ago. “Nothing has happened to date. PM Modi is only making statements without understanding his resources. The public now understands that he only makes statements, and there is nothing positive from his government,” he said.
Touching upon the controversy triggered by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s ‘batenge toh katenge’ (if divided, we will be wiped out) statement, Pawar said such remarks cannot be made by responsible leaders. Ajit, whose party is part of the ruling Mahayuti, also opposed the comments, following which Fadnavis sent him a rejoinder.
“He is taking this to a communal line. They (BJP) are confident that they will lose. That’s why they are trying to communalise the entire narrative. This is disrespect and disservice to the community,” Sharad Pawar added.