Ajit Pawar urges Eknath Shinde administration to concentrate on governance rather than rivalry

Ajit Pawar, the leader of the nationalist Congress Party (NCP), urged the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party to focus on effectively administering Maharashtra rather than competing with one another.

His remarks came in the midst of tension between the two ruling parties following a Tuesday commercial that claimed that Shinde was more popular than his deputy and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis according to a poll. Atrocities and crimes against women as well as communal incidents were on the rise in the state, while the police force, which is under Fadnavis who holds the Home portfolio, was unable to maintain law and order, Pawar said in a press conference here.

When asked why the Baramati Lok Sabha MP described him as the Amitabh Bachchan of Maharashtra politics, NCP working president Supriya Sule suggested it may have been because she was his sister. You need not pay much attention to this remark. Have I ever acted like an angry young man (the portrayal of which in several films made Bachchan a film legend). If I had then people of Baramati would not have elected me so many times. In 2019, I won with a record margin of 1.65 lakh, he said.

Speaking on friction between the Eknath Shinde faction and the BJP, Pawar pointed out to a poster that has come up in Nanded, images of which have gone viral on social media. In the poster put up by a BJP functionary, there is reference of pachchaas khokhe (Rs 50 crore) and 105 doke (referring to 105 BJP MLAs). If the BJP itself is using the Rs 50 crore slur for Shinde MLAs, then it endorses (horse trading) allegations made by the Maha Vikas Aghadi and people, he said.

Taking a swipe at Shinde's statement post the advertisement row that his friendship with Fadnavis was like the strong bond of renowned adhesive brand Fevicol and they were like blockbuster film Sholay's Jai and Viru, Pawar asked why has it come to a situation where Shinde has to give such explanations and clarifications.