Mumbai, July 16, 2023: Amidst the ongoing battle for control over the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and several NCP leaders, including ministers Dilip Walse Patil, Hasan Mushrif, Chhagan Bhujabal, Dhananjay Munde, Aditi Tatkare, and Deputy Speaker Narahari Zirwal, met NCP chief Sharad Pawar in Mumbai. The meeting took place at the Y B Chavan Centre near the state secretariat ‘Mantralaya’.
The meeting comes in the wake of Ajit Pawar’s rebellion against his uncle, Praful Patel. Praful Patel, who was once a close aide of Sharad Pawar, stated that they sought to seek the blessings of their “idol” and came without informing him beforehand.
“We came to seek blessings of our idol, Sharad Pawar,” Praful Patel told reporters. “We want to keep NCP united, so we requested Pawarsaheb to consider it and guide us. He didn’t respond, just heard us.”
NCP state president Jayant Patil and party leader Jitendra Awhad were also present at the Y B Chavan Centre. Patil stated that Ajit Pawar’s group expressed regret and urged Sharad Pawar to find a resolution to the current complications within the party. He emphasized that the Sharad Pawar faction has the support of 19 MLAs and remains open to the rebels’ return if they wish to do so.
The development comes just two days before a crucial meeting of opposition parties in Bengaluru to strategize against the Narendra Modi-led BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The last such meeting, hosted by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Patna, was attended by Sharad Pawar.
On a related note, on Friday, Ajit Pawar visited Silver Oak, the official residence of the NCP supremo, to meet Sharad Pawar’s wife, Pratibha Pawar, after her surgery at a Mumbai hospital. The visit is significant as Ajit Pawar shares a close bond with his aunt Pratibha, who reportedly played a vital role in bringing him back to the NCP fold in 2019 after he briefly allied with Devendra Fadnavis to form a government after the Assembly polls.
