Mumbai: Veteran leader and founder of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Sharad Pawar was ready to join BJP-Eknath Shinde’s Sena government in Maharashtra, claimed Nationalist Congress party leader Praful Patel.
He said Pawar was 50 % ready to join hands with the BJP-Eknath Shinde’s Sena government in Maharashtra when his nephew Ajit Pawar took oath as Deputy Chief Minister of the state.
Patel who belongs to Ajit Pawar faction of NCP, said “They took the blessings of Pawar on July 15 and 16, and requested him to join them, and informed him that we wanted to work under him. Days after Ajit Pawar met Sharad Pawar in Pune, where I believe Pawaar saab (Sharad Pawar) was 50% ready,” he said.
Ajit Pawar triggered a split in NCP on July 2, 2023, eight ministers joined Shinde Shiv Sena led government. The split led to a fight between Pawar and his nephew over party’s claim to the electoral symbol “clock.”
The ECI ruled in February that Ajit Pawar’s faction was the ‘real’ NCP and allotted a new name for Sharad Pawar’s faction, ‘NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar’.
During the India Today Conclave in October,2023, Praful Patel said that a big number of NCP leaders had expressed a desire to join hands with BJP-led government in Maharashtra in 2022, when Shiv Sena spilt following Eknath Shinde’s exit from the party, which ultimately led to the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.
“When MVA collapsed, 51 MLAs from the NCP expressed their intention to join the BJP-led coalition for the formation of the Maharashtra government. NCP leaders had formally communicated this intent to Sharad Pawar,” he stated.
Criticising INDIA bloc, Patel said it as merely a “photo-op” without any substantive plan to challenge the BJP-led NDA.”I accompanied Pawar saab to their inaugural meeting in Patna. It’s all about photo opportunities; there’s no concrete strategy in place. What exactly is their plan? They don’t have one,” he said this to ANI.
Patel explained lack of coherence within the INDIA bloc, stating their contradictory stances in various states such as Punjab, West Bengal, and Kerala. Despite their goal was to “unseat PM Narendra Modi,” yet they failed to present a united fight or failed to name a good challenger, he concluded.
‘Looking forward to meeting with PM Modi’: Elon Musk confirms visit to India
