While sharpening his verbal attack on his uncle - Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and his faction - Deputy CM and rebel NCP faction leader Ajit Pawar on Monday said currently there was no alternative to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the country.
Speaking in Pune about the challenge thrown by the Opposition to PM Modi’s leadership ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election, Mr. Pawar said, “As of now, there is no alternative to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the country. And this is based on various aspects and not just one or two things…questions like who will protect the country’s interests, in whose hands will the country be safer and stronger, who raised the country’s image on the international stage - these factors matter a lot.”
While Mr. Ajit Pawar has remained restrained in his criticism of his uncle against whom he rebelled by splitting the NCP in July this year, the Deputy CM stepped up the attack on the NCP patriarch.
Justifying his decision to join the Shinde-BJP government, the Deputy CM said, “While I have taken this stance after the age of 60, some people did it before they were 40 [alluding to Pawar senior]. Even a good leader like [former Maharashtra CM] Vasantdada Patil was sidelined at the time. So, it is not as if such a thing has happened for the first time.”
The Deputy CM further claimed that [Maharashtra’s first CM and Mr. Sharad Pawar’s political mentor] Yashwantrao Chavan had opposed Mr. Sharad Pawar’s move at the time.
Mr. Pawar was referring to Sharad Pawar becoming Maharashtra’s youngest CM at age 38 in 1978 by splitting the Congress and forming the Progressive Democratic Front in alliance with the Janata Party and the Peasants and Workers Party. At the time, Sharad Pawar had toppled the Congress government led by Vasantrao Patil to become Chief Minister himself.
Hitting back at his nephew, Pawar senior said that the move against then Maharashtra Chief Minister Vasantrao Patil “was not a rebellion” but “a decision taken after mutual consultation.”
“In our times, there was no rebellion. We used to sit and take decisions. It was a mutual decision so there was no question of anyone complaining,” Mr. Sharad Pawar said, speaking in Pune.
Queried about the Opposition bloc Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance not having a Prime Ministerial face, Mr. Sharad Pawar said even in the 1977 Lok Sabha polls, no one was projected as PM.
“After the polls at the time, Moraraji Desai was made PM. If people are in the mood for change, they will take a call to bring about that change,” Mr. Sharad Pawar said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Ajit Pawar has claimed he had the support of 43 of the 53 NCP MLAs and six of the nine NCP legislators in the Maharashtra Legislative Council.
He further lashed out at Shirur MP Amol Kolhe, who is with the Sharad Pawar-led NCP faction.
“When we gave him a ticket in 2019, he was popular because he played the role of Sambhaji Maharaj [in a Marathi language TV serial] and was a good orator. Myself and Dilip Walse-Patil had worked hard to ensure his victory…but he hardly visited his constituency. I have now decided on an alternative to him [in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls], and I can tell you now that my candidate will win the seat for sure,” said Mr. Ajit Pawar.
