Singed by nephew Ajit's rebellion, NCP chief Sharad Pawar blames BJP for breaking parties

“Some of our people fell prey to BJP’s tactics to break other parties,” said a visibly stung Sharad Pawar Monday.

“We were serving Maharashtra under Uddhav Thackeray, but our government was toppled by some people. The same happened in some other parts of the nation too,” the NCP President said in Maharashtra’s Karad a day after nephew Ajit Pawar’s rebellion that has divided the NCP across the middle.

While this is the second time that Ajit Pawar has changed political colours to join the saffron brigade, the scale of challenge and the timing of the latest rebellion has shocked NCP. While Sharad Pawar was one of the most vocal proponents of Opposition Unity to challenge the BJP in 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the crumbling of his own house has seriously damaged Pawar senior’s political heft.

“People of Maharashtra will not succumb to undemocratic forces,” Pawar senior added.

Intensifying his attack on BJP, the NCP head said, “We set up a government led by Uddhav Thackeray. But some people overthrew it. And a government promoting communal forces came into being. Such efforts are being done elsewhere in the country too.”

A new turn of events was witnessed in Maharashtra politics on Sunday when Ajit Pawar and eight other NCP MLAs have taken oath as ministers in the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government.

Ajit Pawar was sworn in as the deputy chief minister. This is the third time in four years he has taken oath as the state’s deputy CM.

What may have sparked the move?

In June, Sharad Pawar had said he needed two working presidents as “the situation in the country is such that it would have been wrong to give the responsibility of all states to only one person”.

He then appointed his daughter Supriya Sule and Rajya Sabha MP Praful Patel as working presidents of the party.

The announcement was well received within the party, but it also raised sparked speculation that Ajit Pawar, who is known for his rebellious streak and joined the BJP in 2019, may feel sidelined as he was not given any party post.

Less than a month, Ajit Pawar found his way out, possibly expressing his anger by joining hands with BJP-Shiv Sena alliance government in the state.

With inputs from agencies

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