Ajit Pawar takes swipe at Sharad Pawar for forming alliance with Congress after opposing Sonia Gandhi in 1999

Pic: PTI File

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday took a swipe at his uncle Sharad Pawar's decision to form an alliance with the Congress within only a few months after raising the issue of Sonia Gandhi's foreign origins.

Ajit Pawar, who rebelled against Sharad Pawar last year and split the Nationalist Congress Party, also asked why he was being criticised for joining hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party when his uncle had formed an alliance with the Shiv Sena two years earlier, newswire PTI reported.

"In 1999, a school of thought emerged (within Congress) that a foreign-origin person should not be India's prime minister. Senior leaders like Pawar saheb (Sharad Pawar), P A Sangma and Tariq Anwar took this stand. We were young, and we also supported that stand. In June 1999, the NCP was formed (after Sharad Pawar was expelled from Congress), and in October 1999, we joined Vilasrao Deshmukh's government in the state," he said.

"Not even six months had passed. What happened to the issue of foreign origin? If Sonia Gandhi, being a foreign-origin person, was Congress president, why was the decision to go with Congress taken," asked Ajit Pawar.

He also said that there could have been an NCP chief minister after the party formed alliance with the Congress in 1999, but the NCP leadership did not claim the post.

"(Chhagan) Bhujbal, R R Patil or any other leader from the NCP should have been given the opportunity (to become CM)," he said.

When the Uddhav Thackeray-led government of the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress fell in June 2022, everyone in the NCP had decided to join hands with the BJP, Ajit Pawar further claimed.

Also read: MSC Bank scam: Called again on Feb 1, says NCP MLA Rohit Pawar after spending 11 hours at ED office

"Going with the Shiv Sena is acceptable, then why not going with the BJP? If senior leaders take a decision, it is seen as the right decision, but when we take a decision, it is perceived to be wrong," he added.

Referring to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann ruling out alliance with the Congress for the Lok Sabha elections in their respective states, Ajit also said this situation shows that there was no alternative to Narendra Modi. (With inputs from PTI)