From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI: Maratha stalwart Sharad Pawar(82) on Tuessday resigned as the President of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) he founded 24 years ago after being expelled from the Congress, triggering an all out war of succession between his MP daughter Supriya Sule (53) for third term and his nephew Ajit Pawar (63), the party leader the Maharashtra Assembly.
Ajit minced no words about his ambitions declaring recently that the NCP is ready to stake claim for the CM’s post at any point of time.
The veteran leader’s decision to step down sent shockwaves among the party cadre, urging Supriya to persuade him to withdraw his decision, but Ajit Pawar intervened and suggested to his cousin not to speak anything, an advice as her elder brother.
“Pawar Saheb himself had said about the necessity of change in guard a few days back. We should see his decision in the light of his age and health also. Everyone has to take a decision according to time, Pawar Saheb has taken a decision and he won’t take it back”, Ajit said.
There have been murmurs in the NCP over a purported rebellion within the party ranks. Ajit Pawar reportedly held meeting with MLAs in his support before his uncle managed to prevail over the situation. But the ambitious nephew has minced no words about his chief ministerial ambitions.
Recently, Ajit Pawar had said that the NCP is ready to stake claim to the chief minister’s post and does not have to wait till the 2024 Maharashtra election. Reacting to his remark, Sule had said there is nothing wrong to have ambition in politics.
“There is nothing wrong to have ambition or a dream in politics, everybody has it, so I don’t think there is anything wrong with saying openly about it. In fact, he is very honest in talking about his ambition,” Supriya Sule said.
On April 19, Sule had hinted there will be two ‘political’ blasts in the next 15 days, one in Delhi and another in Maharashtra. When asked about her brother, she had said,”What has happened is that for any development, my brother (Ajit Pawar) is held responsible. Everybody talks about a coin that is in demand in the market.”
Back in 2019, Ajit Pawar had attempted a coup when he took oath as the deputy chief minister in the short-lived government led by Devendra Fadnavis. Then, Sharad Pawar had managed to bring back the rebels including Ajit back into the fold.
