On Tuesday, August 15, Maharashtra Congress leader Nana Patole said that his party is concerned over the ‘secret’ meetings of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar and the Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, chief of the breakaway faction of the NCP.
It is notable that while Sharad Pawar’s faction is with the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance of Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress, and NCP, his nephew Ajit Pawar defected from the Nationalist Congress Party last month to join the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance led by CM Eknath Shinde.
When asked about Pawar senior meeting Ajit in Pune on Saturday, Patole stated, “It is a matter of concern for us, and we do not approve of the secret meetings between the Pawars. The matter, however, will be discussed by the Congress’ top leaders. It would be inappropriate for me to discuss anything more because the I.N.D.I.A. alliance will also be discussing it. The Congress has decided to join forces with everyone who intends to oppose the BJP.”
Moreover, Patole refuted the claims that Congress is speculating to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections without taking Sharad Pawar along.
Patole conducted a meeting with the Thackeray-led Sena (UBT) leadership about the future path of the MVA shortly after Sharad Pawar’s meeting with Ajit Pawar on August 13.
Meanwhile, the Congress had appointed observers to each of Maharashtra’s 48 Lok Sabha seats to analyse each constituency and submit a report to the party’s high command by August 15. The Congress party has also resolved to organise a foot march from August 16 to August 31st.
Speaking in his hometown Baramati, Sharad Pawar stated that some party members decided on a different path, but that “once they realise the situation, their stand may change. Whether they change their minds or not, we will not deviate from the path we have chosen. I told Maharashtra voters to vote for someone.” And now, I can not tell them to vote for someone whom we have opposed all along,” Pawar said.
On his ‘secret’ meetings with nephew Ajit Pawar, the NCP chief said that Ajit Pawar is his nephew and there is nothing wrong if a senior family member wants to meet another member of the family. “There should not be any issue with it,” Sharad Pawar said.
Notably, Sharad Pawar’s daughter, Baramati MP Supriya Sule earlier stated that there should be no confusion over whether their faction would ally with the BJP because Sharad Pawar had publicly stated that he would never join the saffron party.
Although the NCP chief and his party colleagues have consistently denied the idea of the NCP joining the Shiv-Sena BJP alliance, Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar’s’ secret meetings have cast aspersions regarding the NCP’s future.
