NEW DELHI: Amidst monsoons in Mumbai, the political war in Mumbai is all warming up, with the Pawar family feud playing out in the open.
As Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) factions owing allegiance to Sharad Pawar and his estranged nephew Ajit Pawar held separate meetings, the show of strength turned bitter with the war of words.
Taking a swipe at his uncle and mentor Sharad Pawar, Ajit Pawar said to his supporters in Bandra, “There is a retirement age in every profession. You are 83 now, when will you stop?”
“IAS officers retire at 60. Even in politics, BJP leaders retire at 75. You can see the example of LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi…It allows the new generation to rise,” he said.
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Reacting to her cousin’s jibe at her father, Supriya Sule cited the example of Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan and Chairman and Managing Director of Serum Institute, which manufactures COVID-19 vaccine COVISHIED in India, Cyrus Poonawala.
In a no holds barred attack, Sule said, “Pawar saheb is not only my father. He is the father of all NCP workers. Attack whoever you want, but not my father.”
“What is age? It’s just a number. Ratan Tata is three years older than my father. He is still the chairman of Tata Sons, which is one of the largest groups in India. Cyrus Poonwala of the Serum Institute is 84 and still working. Amitabh Bachchan is 82 and still working,” Sule pointed out.
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Addressing his supporters, Sharad Pawar said that Ajit Pawar should have approached him if he had something in mind.
“Ajit Pawar should have spoken to me if he had any problems. The party symbol is with us, it is not going anywhere. The people and party workers who brought us to power are with us. The Ajit Pawar faction has not followed any procedure,” the former Union minister said.
Attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Sharad Pawar said, “You (the BJP) called the NCP corrupt. So, why have you allied with the NCP now?” The former Maharashtra Chief minister also said that the BJP is trying to repeat what it did with the Shiv Sena. “Whatever happened to Uddhav Thackeray has been repeated,” he said.
Ajit Pawar also said that the decision to join the BJP had been on since the past year, and in 2019, it was Sharad Pawar who asked him for the morning swearing-in ceremony. “The meeting had taken place. All this had happened before CM Eknath Shinde went to Guwahati. I have a letter with the signatures of all the MLAs,” he added.
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Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India has received a petition from Ajit Pawar staking claim to the NCP and party symbol. The commission has also received a caveat from Jayant Patil, the party’s state president, that they have initiated a disqualification process against nine MLAs who joined the Shiv Sena-BJP-led Maharashtra government.
Interestingly, Ajit Pawar claimed he had the support of more than 30 MLAs, while some 16 MLAs turned up for Sharad Pawar’s meeting at the YB Chavan Centre at Nariman Point in Mumbai.
Ajit Pawar claimed that he has a 2/3 majority while staking claim to the party and its symbol. Sule, on the other hand, asserted that the party and symbol would stay with Sharad Pawar.
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