A day after he was sworn in as Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister in the wake of his joining hands with the BJP and ditching his Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Ajit Pawar was locked in a Twitter war with his uncle and party president Sharad Pawar on Sunday.
The first tweet came from Mr. Ajit Pawar in the evening saying he would always remain with the NCP and sought patience until future developments unfold, calling Mr. Sharad Pawar his leader. He also claimed that the new government will be of the BJP and the NCP.
Mr. Sharad Pawar, however, dismissed these claims, saying there was no question of forming a government with the BJP, adding his nephew’s tweet was false and misleading.
“I am in the NCP and shall always be in the NCP and @PawarSpeaks Saheb is our leader. Our BJP-NCP alliance shall provide a stable Government in Maharashtra for the next five years which will work sincerely for the welfare of the State and its people,” Mr. Ajit Pawar’s tweet said. He added: “There is absolutely no need to worry, all is well. However a little patience is required. Thank you very much for all your support.”
Sensing that the statement would create confusion among the party ranks and also with the allies Congress and Shiv Sena, the NCP president responded: “There is no question of forming an alliance with @BJP4Maharashtra. NCP has unanimously decided to ally with @ShivSena & @INCMaharashtra to form the government. Shri Ajit Pawar’s statement is false and misleading in order to create confusion and false perception among the people.”
Other NCP leaders too jumped in to sort out the confusion. Party’s State unit president Jayant Patil said Mr. Ajit Pawar is the founder member of the NCP and all party leaders have grown under the shadow of Mr. Sharad Pawar. “However Sharad Pawar has decided to not join hands with the BJP which is in the interests of Maharashtra. We expect him [Ajit Pawar] to return respecting the decision,” he said.
However, the latter’s return to the NCP mainstream seems highly unlikely after his series of tweets thanking leaders of the BJP for their congratulations on in his role as the deputy CM of Maharashtra, after joining hands with the BJP.
Mr. Ajit Pawar went on tweeting spree from thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah to all the Union Ministers. “Thank you Hon. Prime Minister @narendramodi ji. We will ensure a stable government that will work hard for the welfare of the people of Maharashtra,” he tweeted.
He also thanked BJP president Union Home Minister Amit Shah, union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath singh, Smriti Irani, Piyush Goyal along with BJP’s national working president J.P. Nadda.
Mr. Pawar’s response to the BJP indicate that all attempts from the NCP to bring him back to the party have failed and he has decided to stay firm with his stand to rebel.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Jayant Patil and senior leader Dilip Walse-Patil held a meeting with him at his Mumbai residence. Both the leaders left the house without speaking to the media which was an indication that the meeting was unsuccessful. His nephew and NCP MLA Rohit Pawar too on Sunday morning had written an emotional post on social media site appealing him to come back.
