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By Sahil Joshi: Why 2024, even now I aspire to become the chief minister, said senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar on Friday. Ajit Pawar’s answer was in response to a question on whether he was aiming for the top post in the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly election.
“Why 2024, even now I aspire to become the CM,” Ajit Pawar told a Marathi newspaper.
This comes amid rumours of a rift in the NCP, with speculation surrounding Ajit Pawar’s future political move.
“We used to talk about secularism and being progressive. But in 2019, we- the Congress and the NCP- allied with Shiv Sena to form a government, (and) so we broke away from secularism as Shiv Sena has been a hindutva party,” Ajit Pawar said as he spoke of the MVA alliance.
Maharashtra went through a period of political instability last year with the Eknath Shinde-led rebellion bringing down the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in the state. Eknath Shinde’s Sena joined hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party to form a government in the state.
ALSO READ | Ajit Pawar will be welcomed only if he leaves NCP, says Shinde Sena MLA
And recently there has been speculation that Ajit Pawar and a group of MLAs loyal to him might align with the ruling Bharatiya Janta Party.
Ajit Pawar has, however, dismissed all such reports. He said there is no truth in reports about any rift in the Nationalist Congress Party and him joining hands with the BJP.
Meanwhile, Ajit Pawar skipped an NCP meeting in Mumbai, citing prior commitments. Ajit Pawar said that he was not able to attend the NCP meeting as he has to remain present for some other programmes happening at the same time. The NCP also said that Ajit Pawar’s inability to attend the party meeting does not mean he is planning to quit the organisation.
BJP SAYS MVA LEADERS QUESTIONING PAWAR’S CREDIBILITY
On Friday, Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule accused the Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders of defaming Ajit Pawar and questioning his credibility. Bawankule said Ajit Pawar had not met him in the last three months and nor had he met senior leaders of the ruling party.
“The leaders of MVA are defaming Ajit Pawar. They are posing questions on the credibility of Pawar. From the early morning swearing in (when Pawar broke ranks and allied with Devendra Fadnavis in 2019) till now, question marks are being raised on his life, stand and work,” Bawankule told reporters on Friday.
(With inputs from PTI)
ALSO READ | Ajit Pawar writes to Maharashtra Governor, seeks probe into Khargar heatstroke deaths
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