16 February,2024 07:16 PM IST | Pune | mid-day online correspondent
Ajit Pawar. File Pic
Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday said that had he been son of a senior political leader, he would have easily got control of the party, the PTI reported.
Ajit Pawar's statement was an apparent reference to his uncle-- Sharad Pawar.
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president, who rebelled against his uncle Sharad Pawar last year to join the CM Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena-BJP government, also denied the allegation that corruption cases forced him to switch sides, as per the PTI.
Speaking at a party function in Mumbai, Ajit Pawar said he was accused of "stealing" the party founded by Sharad Pawar, but the Election Commission of India (ECI) and Maharashtra assembly Speaker gave rulings in his favour (affirming that the Ajit faction was the real NCP).
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"Had I been born to the senior (leader), I would have become party president naturally, in fact, the party would have come under my control. (But) I too was born to your brother," he said, without naming his uncle, according to the PTI.
The entire family is against him but party workers are with him, Ajit Pawar further said.
"We were slandered. It was said we took this decision (to join hands with the BJP) just to stall the inquiries against us. I want to ask, is everyone (who is with him) facing inquiries? he said, the news agency reported on Friday.
Some people never became ministers, and hence they never faced allegations of corruption, Ajit Pawar further said.
"Since you never became minister, how would any corruption allegations be made against you?...I had the state's responsibility. Those who work, are bound to face allegations. Those who do not work, are bound to remain clean," he said, as per the PTI.
Notably, Baramati MP Supriya Sule, Sharad Pawar's daughter, has not held a ministerial post so far in her career.
Had he endorsed Sharad Pawar's choice for the party's president, he would have received appreciation, Ajit further said.
"But when I became the chief of the party, we are dubbed as good for nothing," he said.
He would field from Baramati a candidate who has not contested an election earlier, but the person would have supporters with ample experience, Ajit Pawar said, adding that people should vote for his candidate as if he himself was in the fray.
(with PTI inputs)
