Key NCP leaders to take call on Ajit's desire for party role, says Sharad Pawar

NCP chief Sharad Pawar. Pic/PTI

Days after Ajit Pawar appealed that he be assigned a role in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) organisation, party president Sharad Pawar on Monday said such a decision cannot be taken by one person and key party leaders will sit to take a call on it, reported news agency PTI.

According to PTI, senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar, who is the nephew of Sharad Pawar, recently appealed to the party leadership to relieve him of the responsibility as Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly and assign him any role in the party organisation.

Notably, Sharad Pawar recently entrusted the responsibility of Maharashtra to his daughter and Lok Sabha member Supriya Sule by appointing her as a working president. Praful Patel is another working president for other states.

Asked about Ajit Pawar's desire to have a position in the party organisation, Sharad Pawar said such decisions are not taken by any one person.

"Key leaders including him (Ajit) will sit together and they will take a decision on this. Today, everyone in the party has the sentiment to work in the party organisation and he (Ajit) reflected upon the same sentiment," Sharad Pawar was quoted as saying by PTI.

On criticism from opponents that the NCP uses Other Backward Classes for namesake but does not give any party position to OBC leaders, Sharad Pawar said such comments show there is lack of knowledge over this point.

"The first state NCP chief was Chhagan Bhujbal. Who is he? After him, (Madhukarrao) Pichad was on that position. After him, Sunil Tatkare, who was he? See the list," he said.

They (BJP leaders) also know that the question raised by them is not in sync with the facts, he added.

Bhujbal recently batted for an OBC state unit chief of the party and also threw his hat in the ring.
He was the first president of the state NCP when it was formed in 1999.

Bhujbal said current NCP Maharashtra unit chief Jayant Patil had been on the post for five years, adding BJP's state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule and Congress state unit chief Nana Patole were OBCs.

It is a norm that if the state unit president is from one dominant community, the LoP has to be from a smaller community in order to give representation to all sections of society, Bhujbal said.

Sharad Pawar was also asked about Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' remark that while the revolt led by CM Eknath Shinde (against the Shiv Sena leadership last year) was termed as "betrayal", the NCP chief's act in 1978 was perceived as a "strategy".

Reacting to it, Sharad Pawar said he had then formed government and that the BJP was part of it.
"He (Fadnavis) must have been a small kid then, that's why he does not know the history. But for his knowledge, I would like to explain that when I formed the government, I took everyone along," he said.
At that time, Uttamrao Patil, who was from the Jana Sangh (BJP's forerunner), was the deputy chief minister, he said.

"Since he (Fadnavis) was in primary school, that is why today he is making a statement due to lack of knowledge," the NCP chief said.

On Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao's attempt to make inroads into Maharashtra by raising the issue of low onion prices in the western state, Sharad Pawar said he has got information that some farmers took their onion produce to Hyderabad, but did not get the desired prices.

"He (Rao) is trying to show a different kind of political picture here in the state. If they really want to serve (the people here), they are most welcome," he said.

Rao is scheduled to visit Pandharpur and Tuljapur temple towns in Maharashtra on Tuesday.

Asked if Rao's Bharat Rashtra Samithi would pose a challenge in Maharashtra, Sharad Pawar said it would be known only after the elections.

Sharad Pawar also expressed satisfaction over the onset of monsoon in Maharashtra.

(With inputs from PTI)