Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Wednesday said he aspired to become the CM of the state and also took a jibe at his 83-year-old uncle asking when will the Maratha strongman retire from active politics, as he appeared to be ahead in the numbers game for control of the Nationalist Congress Party after its vertical split.
NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar has questioned whether VSR Ventures owner V K Singh is attempting to blame the pilot for the Learjet crash that killed Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar and four others in January. Pawar cites media reports about Singh's purported submission to the CID, raising concerns about the investigation's transparency.
Pawar urged people not to fall prey to the Opposition's "fake campaigns", highlighting government schemes for the youth, women, Warkaris (followers of Lord Vithoba) and others.
The poster came up on the eve of swearing-in of Sena president and the Aghadi nominee Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai.
Sunetra Pawar, widow of late Ajit Pawar, is set to be sworn in as Maharashtra's first woman Deputy Chief Minister, replacing her husband in the state cabinet. Her appointment follows a meeting of the NCP legislature wing where she is expected to be named as its leader.
Pawar said, "I will meet PM Narendra Modi on July 18. During the meeting, I will take up various issues related to farmers with him. (NCP leader) Praful Patel and I will attend the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) meeting."
'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 Ajit Pawar is a "senior leader and MLA of the party", Supriya Sule said on Thursday when asked about the status of the former in the Nationalist Congress Party.
Ajit Pawar on Sunday announced the alliance between the factions for the Pimpri Chinchwad civic polls.
The trigger was Raut spitting on the ground in front of cameras during a press conference on Friday when reporters sought his reaction to Shiv Sena MP Shrikant' Shinde's jibe targetting Uddhav Thackeray.
On Wednesday, two weeks after husband Ajit Pawar perished in a tragic air crash in Baramati, Sunetra Pawar met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi.
A 24-year-old man has been arrested from Mahad in Raigad district of Maharashtra for allegedly threatening to kill state ministers Chhagan Bhujbal and Dhananjay Munde, both members of the Ajit Pawar camp of Nationalist Congress Party, a Pune police officer said on Tuesday.
Congress leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Ziauddin Siddique, popularly known as Baba Siddique, on Thursday said he had resigned from the party and will be joining the Ajit Pawar led-Nationalist Congress Party.
'No action will be taken against Ajit Pawar. I am sure.'
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.
Pawar said he was upset that his three sisters were dragged into this.
Raut's statement comes a day after Pawar, during an interview with a media house in Pune, responded to a query on his chief ministerial ambitions by saying "yes, I would 100 per cent like to be (CM)".
"Ajit dada has resigned and he is with us. Uddhav Thackeray will be the chief minister of Maharashtra for five years," Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said.
Maharashtra NCP president Sunil Tatkare has acknowledged awareness of merger talks between his party and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP-SP, while reaffirming the party's commitment to the BJP-led NDA alliance.
The taxmen provisionally sent orders to attach their properties in Mumbai, New Delhi, Pune, Goa and also over two dozen land parcels across the state with a combined market value of around Rs 1,400 crore
The court will now decide whether to accept the report or direct the agency to continue the investigation and file a chargesheet.
Alleging that the Centre is abusing the Central agencies to pressure the tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said the ruling dispensation and every individual associated will slug it out without any fear.
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.
Pawar said after Anil Deshmukh resigned as home minister in April last year, he once again asked the party to give him the home ministry, but he did not get the portfolio.
"They (BJP) are in power at the Centre, state and have other agencies with them. Let them probe, then things will be clear," Pawar said.
On December 19, the ACB in the affidavit gave a clean chit to Ajit Pawar in the alleged Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation scam.
Pawar's remark is in stark contrast to the stand taken by NCP which was among the 20 opposition parties that skipped the inauguration of new parliament building on Sunday.
The winter session of Maharashtra assembly began on a stormy note on Monday with Opposition parties joining ranks to criticise re-induction of senior Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar as deputy chief minister.
The move came at a time when deliberations between the Congress, the NCP and the Shiv Sena seemingly reached the final stage on Friday.
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.
Senior NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil has ruled out the possibility of a merger between the two factions of the Nationalist Congress Party, stating that talks ceased following the death of Ajit Pawar.
The Nationalist Congress Party on Friday said that its leader and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's controversial remarks on drought and load shedding were a "closed chapter", and he would not resign.
Nationalist Congress Party-SP chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday turned 84 and celebrated his birthday with members of his family and well-wishers, including estranged nephew and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.
A female pro-Vidarbha activist allegedly threw a slipper at Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar at an event in Chamorshion Tuesday.
He said that in a 288-member assembly, the government will not lose its majority mark, even if 16 MLAs are disqualified.
The Nashik unit of the Shiv Sena on Monday demanded resignation of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar over his insensitive remarks over drought, which has ravaged over a dozen districts in the state.
Citing Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar president Sharad Pawar on Saturday supported a probe into the controversial land deal allegedly linked to the company of his grandnephew Parth Pawar.
NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar was admitted to a private hospital in Pune after experiencing cough and breathing difficulties. Doctors are evaluating his condition.
Tension prevailed outside a polling booth in Baramati town in Maharashtra's Pune district after Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar candidate Yugendra Pawar's mother alleged intimidation and malpractices by workers of the rival Nationalist Congress Party led by sitting MLA Ajit Pawar.
Baseless allegations are being made against Pune MLA Sunil Tigre linking him to the Porsche crash that left two software engineers dead, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said on Saturday.
