After his nephew Ajit Pawar moved the Election Commission seeking Nationalist Congress Party’s name and symbol, party president Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said that he will not allow anyone to snatch the party’s ‘Clock’ symbol.
Addressing party workers at Yashwantrao Chavan Centre in south Mumbai days after Ajit’s rebellion, 83-year-old Sharad said, “There is no need to worry, and he won’t allow anyone to snatch NCP’s symbol.”
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The NCP, founded by Sharad Pawar in 1999, witnessed a split on Sunday with Ajit Pawar, claiming the support of over 40 MLAs and joining the Shiv Sena-BJP coalition government in Maharashtra. Nine NCP MLAs, including Ajit Pawar, were sworn-in as ministers in the Maharashtra government at a surprise cabinet expansion on Sunday. Ajit Pawar, with senior party leaders Praful Patel, Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse Patil by his side, asserted to be the real NCP.
Ajit Pawar approached the Election Commission filing over 40 affidavits of MLAs and MPs in his support.
Ajit Could’ve Approached Me if He’d Any Problems: Sharad Pawar
The former union minister also said if Ajit had any problems, he should have talked to him. If he had something on his mind he could have approached me, he said.
Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he asked if the NCP is corrupt then why the BJP entered into an alliance with his party in Maharashtra.
“The prime minister should be of the country, not of a particular party. If there are cases against NCP leaders, why are they being included in government? You (BJP) called the NCP corrupt. So, why have you allied with the NCP now?… Whatever happened to Uddhav Thackeray has been repeated,” he said.
Sharad Pawar said it is important to get the current government out of power and his party will work to ensure this.
“I welcome all those who have come to support us. This is a historic meeting. All the hard work done by NCP workers. I have been successful for so many years. I have worked in different governments at different times. I have worked with Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh. Today in India, there is no democracy. There is no open communication. To know the sentiments of the common man, one needs to go to ground,” he said.
The former minister said MPs could speak about problems in their constituency during the tenure of Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh but today it does not happen. “This is not a good state of affairs. Decisions are taken without consultation. This is not democratic,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Ajit Pawar Sharad Pawar urged his 83-year-old uncle to “take rest” and retire. Speaking at the meeting convened by him in suburban Bandra as a show of strength, Ajit said BJP leaders retire at 75 and asked the NCP supremo to step down stating “Are you going to stop or not?”
“In BJP, leaders retire at 75. Give us blessings. If we are wrong, tell us our mistake. But who is this being done for? Why is this happening? Is it our mistake that we were not born to some people? Are you going to stop or not? You are 83,” he said.
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