The press conference of the Mahayuti allies in Mumbai after they staked claim to form government in Maharashtra witnessed some banter thanks to Ajit Pawar, a 'veteran' deputy chief minister.
Such meetings are routine, the former state home minister added.
Senior Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar, who had resigned from the Cabinet in September following charges of corruption in irrigation projects, is set to make a comeback on Friday as Maharashtra deputy chief minister.
In the video, Srinivas Pawar (60), while talking to residents of Katewadi village in Baramati, said the NCP founder had stood with Ajit Pawar through thick and thin.
Maharashtra is set to hold local body elections for municipal councils and nagar panchayats, marking the first phase of a Supreme Court-mandated process. The elections are seen as a key indicator of political sentiment following the BJP-led Mahayuti's victory in the assembly elections.
Ajit Pawar was seen as an heir-apparent in the NCP, but his dalliances with the Bharatiya Janata Party, including an early morning swearing-in as Maharashtra deputy chief minister along with chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in 2019, had not been received well by the party.
Chavan, however, made it clear that if the NCP merger happens and if that party goes with the National Democratic Alliance, it would become difficult for the Congress to continue the alliance with them in Maharashtra.
The MLA claimed his name had figured in the list of nine ministers of NCP, including Ajit Pawar who took oath last Sunday.
People of Maharashtra have always strived to maintain communal harmony, said Pawar.
The old posters which had Ajit Pawar, Praful Patel alongside Sharad Pawar have been removed from outside the office premises.
Surrounded by party workers, including 32 of Nationalist Congress Party's 53 MLAs, Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Wednesday reminded his 83-year-old uncle Sharad Pawar that it was time for him to retire.
"Ajit's brother Shriniwas was asked to maintain dialogue with him....My wife Pratibha and Ajit share a strong bond. Pratibha never gets into political developments, but Ajit's case was related to the family," Pawar said in his book.
Pawar's comments were at variance from ally Shiv Sena-UBT, whose leader Sanjay Raut had said PM Modi should come forward to inform about his academic qualification and that his degree should be displayed at the entrance of the Parliament building.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Sunday took a veiled jibe at Nationalist Congress Party founder Sharad Pawar by alluding to his age and speaking about the 'sentimental appeal of a last election'.
"We realised that we don't have the required numbers to form the government and we don't want to indulge in horse-trading," Fadnavis told reporters after announcing his decision.
Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar MLA Rohit Pawar's mother Sunanda has emphasised the need for party factions led by veteran politician Sharad Pawar and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar to come together as voices for unity emerged from both rival camps.
Upset over being denied tickets by the Bharatiya Janata Party despite being its 'loyal workers for years', several aspirants have rebelled against the party and are now contesting the upcoming elections to the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) as independent candidates.
An Aam Aadmi Party candidate from Baramati Lok Sabha constituency has accused Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar of threatening villagers of cutting off their water supply if they did not vote for Supriya Sule, Nationalist Congress Party nominee and daughter of the party chief Sharad Pawar.
The tit for tat actions came a day after Ajit Pawar joined the Eknath Shinde-BJP government as deputy chief minister along with eight other NCP MLAs who were inducted as ministers.
Ahead of being sworn in as the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra third time in four years, Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar had called a meeting of party leaders and MLAs at his official residence in Mumbai.
He expressed confidence that the Maha Vikas Aghadi of the Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray, NCP (Sharad Pawar group) and Congress will come to power in Maharashtra after the 2024 elections.
'I am 84 years old. What have you seen? I have not become old.'
Ajit Pawar, nephew of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, had served as deputy chief minister for two truncated terms when the Congress-NCP was in power before 2014.
NCP leaders Ajit Pawar, Chhagan Bhujbal, Congress leaders and former chief ministers Ashok Chavan, Prithviraj and former speakers Dilip Walse Patil (NCP) and Haribhau Bagade of the Bharatiya Janata Party were among the members to take oath early.
Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar head Sharad Pawar and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Monday separately visited the memorial of the state's first chief minister Y B Chavan in Karad and paid tributes to him on his death anniversary.
Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar was given the finance and planning portfolio on Friday, nearly two weeks after he broke away from the original party and took oath as Maharashtra's deputy chief minister.
The previous Congress-NCP government had issued an ordinance to grant a 16 per cent quota to Marathas and five per cent to Muslims.
The opposition Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) conceded defeat in the elections to municipal councils and nagar panchayats, accusing the election commission of 'facilitating' the victory of the ruling Mahayuti alliance.
He also said the party workers and citizens need not worry about his health and that he will be back among all after a brief period of rest.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Wednesday asked Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena to mend ways and desist from the smear campaign against the Nationalist Congress Parry or face a "befitting reply".
The ED slapped criminal charges of money laundering on the basis of the Mumbai Police FIR that was filed in August this year, which itself was filed on the basis of a similar complaint by the state economic offences wing.
Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar president Sharad Pawar's remarks on Monday virtually declaring new entrant Harshavardhan Patil's candidature for the upcoming assembly polls in Maharashtra has irked a section of party leaders that was eyeing ticket from the Indapur seat.
Ajit Pawar's NCP, a constituent of Mahayuti, was winning or leading in 41 of the 59 seats it contested as per the latest figures released by the Election Commission.
Bhujbal said the recent developments in the NCP happened after legal experts were consulted to escape disqualification.
After Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar announced that the sale deed executed by his son Parth's firm for a prime land in Pune has been scrapped, officials said the company will have to cough up double the stamp duty, which comes to Rs 42 crore, to get the transaction cancelled.
Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar chief Sharad Pawar turned the heat on his estranged nephew and deputy CM Ajit Pawar on Tuesday, virtually accusing him of breaking the family for his political ambitions.
The action comes a day after Ajit Pawar joined the Eknath Shinde-BJP government as deputy chief minister along with eight other NCP MLAs who were inducted as ministers. Tatkare's daughter Aditi was among the ministers who took oath on Sunday.
In his lifetime, it was his prerogative to decide who should use his photograph, he said.
Five months after a couple of Pawars jousted in an electoral battle in Baramati, two other Pawars will take on each other at the hustings on November 20, 2024.
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