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By Ritvick Arun Bhalekar: Amid growing speculation about the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar joining hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Maharashtra, the party MLAs seem to be divided about the future course of political developments in the state.
When the reports of Ajit Pawar cutting down his plans to attend a rally in Pune with NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and MP Supriya Sule surfaced in the media, Pawar cleared the air by taking to Twitter and talking about his whereabouts.
In a tweet, Ajit Pawar said that I was present at MGM Hospital till Monday morning to visit the families of the members who died in the accident at the Maharashtra Bhushan award ceremony held at Kharghar (Navi Mumbai) and those affected by heatstroke.
“I had no scheduled event on Monday. I am in Mumbai. Tomorrow, on 18th April 2023 that is Tuesday, I will be present in my office at Vidhan Bhavan and the regular business of the office will continue,” he further clarified.
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Pawar also stated that the news about a meeting of MLAs that he called on Tuesday being published by some media houses is false. “It should be noted that I did not call any meeting of MLAs or office bearers,” Ajit Pawar said.
Meanwhile, Ajit Pawar on Tuesday dismissed as “baseless” the rumours of him joining hands with the BJP and said he will remain a part of the Sharad Pawar-led party.
He said there was not an “iota of truth” about him breaking ranks with the NCP and joining hands with the BJP. “I am with NCP. I will remain with NCP. Whatever NCP decides, I will be there,” Ajit Pawar told reporters outside Maharashtra Assembly.
Meanwhile, MP Supriya Sule told the media that Ajit Pawar is not at all upset. “Even Jayant Patil did not speak in the meeting held by Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, so can we say that he was angry?” Sule asked.
She said that it was already decided that only two people would speak at the MVA rally. “These are all rumours that Ajit Pawar is upset because of this. Only those trees are hit with stones which bear more fruit,” Supriya Sule said.
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WHAT DO NCP MLAS SAY?
Meanwhile, Ajit Pawar supporter and NCP MLA from Sinnar in Nashik, Manikrao Kokate said that the BJP needs NCP in Maharashtra to gain power in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. “They have tried the Eknath Shinde equation in the state, but it doesn’t seem to be getting any benefit. All the surveys, reports and feedback are going against them,” he said.
“However, our party hasn’t informed us yet, so it’s not right to say whether any such political developments are underway. We are party MLAs, and we accept the decision that the party will take. There is an unstable situation in the state at present. The only option left for the BJP at present is to take the NCP with it. We will support the decision taken by Ajit Pawar and his party,” Kokate said.
Sunil Shelke, an NCP MLA from Maval, said that he will accept whatever decision Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar take as a party. However, when asked whether Ajit Pawar is joining the BJP soon, he said that these are all rumours.
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On the other hand, another MLA, Dilipkaka Bankar, from Niphad, said that he got no message from Ajit Pawar about coming to Mumbai. “Sharad Pawar was in Nashik a few days ago, Ajit Pawar was in Nashik before that, but there was no such discussion at party level. In fact, our complete focus is on the upcoming market committee elections,” he said.
Likewise, Nitin Pawar, another MLA from Kalwan constituency, was asked about Ajit Pawar joining the BJP, on which he said that till now there is no such news, but we will stick to the suggestions given by Sharad Pawar, Ajit dada and Jayant Patil. He also assured that three MLAs from Nashik, Kokate, DilipKaka and me, would follow what the party leaders order us to do.
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