In an effort to downplay his last week's meeting with his politically estranged nephew Ajit Pawar, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar asserted that he will not align with the BJP and will instead seek to bring about change in the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.
He sought to nix speculation that the Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT) were working on a Plan B to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha polls without his faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). The news of a Plan B (by Congress and Sena-UBT to together contest polls) is wrong. No such plan is being made. There is a need for change in 2024 and therefore were are preparing for it, Sharad Pawar told reporters in Aurangabad ahead of his public rally in Maharashtra’s Beed district on Thursday.
Asked about his hush hush meeting with Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who has aligned with the BJP, in Pune last week, the senior Pawar said, He is my family member. If any ceremony is planned in our family, naturally I will be consulted at that time. Seeking to clear his stand on the much-talked about meeting with his nephew, which has caused unease among his allies Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT), the NCP patriarch asserted, I will not go with the BJP.
To stop unrest among people, we need to bring a change in 2024. We will do every possible to bring this change. The meeting between the NCP founder and Ajit Pawar on August 12 at businessman Atul Chordiya’s residence in Pune had sent political circles abuzz with speculation. It also did not go down well with the Congress and the Shiv Sena group led by former CM Uddhav Thackeray.
Apparently referring to the split in the NCP after Ajit Pawar and eight other party MLAs joined the Eknath Shinde-led government in early July, the former Union minister said, Those who have left me (in the past) didn’t get election tickets again. Asked about the Ajit Pawar group still using his photos, the former Union minister said, We are going to court over this issue. Sharad Pawar indicated his faction is in danger of losing the party symbol and noted he has sent his reply to the Election Commission over the issue.