'There is a hunch that BJP's 'Chanakya' is trying to create some confusion by sending Ajit to meet senior Pawar'
Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar on Tuesday said no one has the right to change the country's name, after the Congress claimed that a G20 dinner invite refers to the President as 'President of Bharat'.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday said his party will not go with the Bharatiya Janata Party though some 'well-wishers' are trying to persuade him.
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.
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.
Ajit Pawar's resignation from the post of the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra has brought to the fore the widening rift between him and Sharad Pawar, writes Sanjay Jog.
This is the second meeting of Ajit Pawar, who was sworn in as Maharashtra deputy chief minister on July 2, and his MLAs with the NCP supremo in two days.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday directed the Cabinet Secretary to look into a demand made by Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar that bureaucrats and intelligence officials should be held accountable for any lapse leading to terror attacks.
There are many life lessons to be learnt from the way Sharad Pawar handled the Maharashtra political crisis.
Popularly known as 'Ajit Dada', he was known to say things as they were, without couching it in any soft padding.
NCP president Sharad Pawar may be busy getting ready for the INDIA Opposition bloc meeting in Mumbai with other Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) constituents, but his close friend and industrialist Dr Cyrus Poonawalla has a piece of advice for the octogenarian leader.
"If someone wants to go, irrespective of the party, no one stops him. Leadership is needed for this, there is no need to work yourself to stop it. The leader should take care of how to make the organisation healthy by being on the front foot. But there is nothing like this (possibility of disintegration) in our party," he said.
Sule, who is being projected as Pawar's heir apparent, has clarified that neither Pawar nor any member of the Pawar family had any investments in IPL. She preferred sugarcane-rich Kolhapur in Maharashtra to issue the clarification.
Pawar made the announcement at the 25th anniversary of the party, founded by him and P A Sangma in 1999.
The talks about the reunification had already started when Ajit Pawar was alive. In fact, the two parties even contested the civic polls in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad together.
Pawar, 80, had undergone an emergency endoscopy for the removal of a stone from his bile duct at the Breach Candy hospital on March 30, a doctor had said.
Talking to reporters, Pawar said the Income Tax department has sought his "clarification and explanation" on some poll affidavits furnished by him.
Soon, it will become clear if he has acted to save his party, checkmate the BJP and show his relevance, observe Sunil Gatade and Venkatesh Kesari.
A close associate of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar claims that Pawar was actively pursuing a merger of the two Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) factions before his death. The associate, Kiran Gujar, stated that Pawar had indicated the merger was imminent just days before a fatal plane crash.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar was admitted to a private hospital in Mumbai on Monday after he felt uneasy, a party functionary said.
Ajit Pawar had also slammed Raut without taking the latter's name and said spokespersons of other parties were behaving like NCP's spokespersons.
Addressing a press conference, Pawar said the trends of the assembly polls (in five states set to be held in November) suggest the situation is favourable for the opposition, but added he had no authentic information to comment on whether there would be a change (in government) at the national level.
The MLA claimed his name had figured in the list of nine ministers of NCP, including Ajit Pawar who took oath last Sunday.
On reports of the BJP opposing the NCP merger, Fadnavis asserted that his party hasn't opposed anyone.
Even as the two parties appeared confident that they have reached out to every voter and publicised their new symbols, experts suggested varying impact of the split and the symbols on the vote bank.
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.
"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.
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday came to the Y B Chavan Centre to meet NCP functionaries for the second consecutive day after announcing his decision to step down as the party chief.
Thousands of supporters gathered to pay their last respects, chanting slogans in his memory. The large turnout and emotional farewell highlighted Ajit Pawar's strong grassroots connect and his significant influence in Maharashtra politics.
Sunetra Pawar, wife of the late Ajit Pawar, has been appointed as the first woman Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, marking a new chapter for the NCP and presenting her with the challenge of leading the party.
As the tussle for control of the Nationalist Congress Party hotted up after its vertical split, Sharad Pawar on Thursday declared he was the president of the party and hit back at nephew and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's retirement jibe, saying he will work more effectively "whether 82 or 92."
The chief minister's reply came on a query on Sharad Pawar's statement a day before wherein he said there was no split in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar is its leader. Pawar later denied making such a statement.
Pawar underwent an emergency endoscopy for the removal of a stone from his bile duct on March 30 at the Breach Candy Hospital.
'Perhaps, he must have thought that it was time to pass on the baton to the younger generation.'
Athawale, known for his rhyming repartees, added: "BJP ne Congress ko latka diya hai, Shiv Sena ko jhatka diya hai aur NCP ko sarkaar mein atkaa diya hai (the BJP has left the Congress in a quandary, shocked the Shiv Sena and taken the NCP along in formation of the government)."
NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar has thrown his weight behind villagers in Solapur, Maharashtra, who are demanding a repoll using ballot papers after raising doubts about the accuracy of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). Pawar met with villagers in Markadwadi, where a police case was filed against over 200 people for attempting to conduct an unauthorized re-election. He expressed support for their concerns, claiming that the villagers were "the ones who thought of conducting polls using ballot papers." Pawar criticized the police action, calling it a restriction on the villagers' right to assemble and vowing to raise the issue with the Chief Minister, the state Chief Electoral Officer, the Prime Minister, and the Election Commission of India.
Addressing a Social Unity Conference in Navi Mumbai on Sunday evening, Pawar also criticised the Centre's handling of the ethnic strife in Manipur, which has claimed several lives since last May.
The meeting took place days after Pawar said that he would discuss with the chief minister the issues of soaring onion prices and flood relief package from the Centre.
Soon after being removed as Nationalist Congress Party working president, Praful Patel on Monday evening announced the appointment of Lok Sabha MP Sunil Tatkare as the party's state unit chief , replacing Jayant Patil, and Maharashtra deputy CM Ajit Pawar as its legislature wing leader.
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