Nationalist Congress Party leader and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Saturday didn't join his cabinet colleagues Devendra Fadnavis and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in visiting the Nagpur-based memorial of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh founder.
'While many politicians speak of development, Dada worked hard for it.' 'He realised that politics wasn't about power or politics -- it was about service to the people.'
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party chief Ajit Pawar said on Friday that the Mahayuti allies are still in talks over 11 of the 288 assembly seats for the November 20 elections in the state.
Pawar was addressing an election campaign rally in Pimpri-Chinchwad and announced the development.
He urged people to ignore politicians who only make speeches and instead, vote for those who work.
Senior NCP leader Hasan Mushrif admitted that Ajit Pawar was holding talks with NCP (SP) leaders on the merger of the two factions before his death.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has criticized his cabinet colleague, Nitesh Rane, for making "misleading" statements about Muslims not being part of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's army. Pawar, who heads the Nationalist Congress Party, called for restraint from political leaders and stressed the importance of maintaining communal harmony in the state. He emphasized that Shivaji Maharaj never discriminated based on caste or creed and highlighted the contributions of Muslims during his reign.
Ajit Pawar criticised Patil, a senior BJP leader, for his remarks two days after polling in the Baramati Lok Sabha seat in Pune district concluded.
Pawar tried to discourage party leader and state minister Dharmarao Baba Aatram's daughter Bhagyashri from crossing over to the Sharad Pawar-led NCP-SP.
NCP (SP) head Sharad Pawar criticized Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's 'vote or no funds' remark, deeming it inappropriate to seek votes based on financial assurances. He also stated that the state government's aid to farmers is insufficient.
Ajit Pawar also said he was "not interested" in contesting elections anymore.
This is for the first time that two members of the influential Pawar family are fighting an election against each other. This is Sunetra Pawar's first Lok Sabha election.
Ahead of the Maharashtra assembly elections, Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party on Tuesday faced a major setback as over 600 party workers and officials from the Pune city unit resigned.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday held a meeting of Nationalist Congress Party MLAs following his party's poor performance in the Lok Sabha polls.
The Supreme Court on Thursday directed Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar to use the 'clock' symbol in its publicity material in the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections with a disclaimer that the matter was sub judice before it.
NCP (SP) leader Rohit Pawar has raised concerns about the statement given by VSR Ventures owner V K Singh to the Crime Investigation Department (CID) regarding the plane crash that killed former Deputy CM Ajit Pawar and four others. Pawar questions whether Singh is attempting to blame the pilot for the accident.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has said he did not request Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hold a campaign rally in his Baramati constituency because the fight there is within the family.
Ajit Pawar on Sunday announced the alliance between the factions for the Pimpri Chinchwad civic polls.
NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar was admitted to a private hospital in Pune after experiencing cough and breathing difficulties. Doctors are evaluating his condition.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced that he, his deputies Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde, will work in shifts to ensure round-the-clock governance. Fadnavis will work from 12 noon to midnight, Ajit Pawar, known for his early rising habits, will be on duty in the morning, and Shinde, known for his late-night work ethic, will handle the night shift. This arrangement comes after Ajit Pawar's controversial return to the BJP-led government following a split from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). The NCP, under Sharad Pawar's leadership, is now a part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance with the Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT). The recent assembly elections saw the Mahayuti alliance, comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar's NCP faction, securing a comfortable majority.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who heads the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), has held a meeting with Union Home Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Shah in Delhi.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar acknowledged that some ministers are unhappy with the portfolios assigned to them in the new cabinet, which includes a high number of ministers. Pawar said that the work on pending projects will begin soon after the ministers take charge of their respective ministries. The budget session of the Maharashtra legislature will commence on March 3.
The NCP and NCP (SP), led by Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar respectively, have formed an alliance for the upcoming Pune Municipal Corporation elections. This development follows a similar alliance for the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation elections and aims to consolidate their position in the region.
Fadnavis said that there was nothing wrong with the slogan given by Yogi Adityanath and stated that it had been the history of the country.
A Bharatiya Janata Party office-bearer from Shirur in Maharashtra's Pune district has sought the removal of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and his Nationalist Congress Party from the ruling alliance, which also consists of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena.
A Mumbai court has accepted the closure report submitted by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) scam case, giving a clean chit to Ajit Pawar and other accused.
Senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal has launched a veiled attack on party president Ajit Pawar, claiming that Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was in favor of his induction in the cabinet. Bhujbal expressed his disappointment and humiliation over his exclusion, alleging that he was treated like a "toy" by the party leadership. He also alleged that Ajit Pawar makes decisions for the NCP like Fadnavis does for the BJP and Eknath Shinde does for the Shiv Sena.
Pawar was apparently referring to MLA Nitesh Rane, who in a recent video can be seen telling a gathering that they should have business transactions only with Hindus.
NCP Maharashtra president Sunil Tatkare reaffirms the party's commitment to the BJP-led NDA, dismissing merger speculations and emphasizing the ideology of the late Ajit Pawar.
'It is our right to not go there and pay a visit. It is the prerogative of every party on whether to visit a particular place or not'
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Tuesday said nothing much happened during his meeting with his uncle and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar in Pune last week.
Fissures have emerged in Maharashtra's ruling Mahayuti over the 'Ladki Bahin Yojana' with a Shiv Sena minister raising objection against ally Nationalist Congress Party and its president Ajit Pawar for 'omitting' Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's name from advertisements and promotional material of the scheme.
Apart from renominating 26 sitting MLAs, including ministers who sided with Ajit Pawar when he joined the ruling camp, the NCP has also fielded sitting legislators Sulbha Khodke (Amravati) and Hiraman Khoskar (Igatpuri) who switched over from the Congress recently.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Sunday said he was satisfied with the development work he had carried out as a legislator, adding that people of Baramati for once must get an MLA other than him so that they could make comparisons.
Speculation about Ajit Pawar's next political move started swirling last week when he suddenly cancelled his scheduled meetings and also made comments which were seen as being soft on the Bharatiya Janata Party and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's camp.
NCP MP Sunil Tatkare's remarks came amid the suspense over a merger of the two NCP factions
Unofficially though, it is claimed that Ajit Pawar has the support of 29 MLAs, and the number could add up within two days.
One should not allow politics to enter home, Pawar, who is currently on a statewide 'Jan Samman Yatra', told Marathi news channel Jai Maharashtra.
Malik used to criticise the BJP-led Central government and the then opposition leader in Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, when he was a cabinet minister in the erstwhile MVA government led by Uddhav Thackeray.
The Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar factions of the NCP are holding their meetings in Yashwantrao Chavan Centre in south Mumbai and in Bhujbal Knowledge City in suburban Bandra, respectively, on Wednesday.