‘Will remain in NCP till my last breath, don’t fall prey to rumours’, says Ajit Pawar as he tries to stop rumour mills from spinning further

Claims and counterclaims by ruling and opposition alliances about imminent ‘political earthquake ‘in Maharashtra continue despite Ajit Pawar’s clarification.

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Mumbai: Even as the cloud of suspicion hangs on him, about his joining the ruling Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena- Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) dispensation refusing to clear away, senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar on Tuesday again reiterated he would “remain in the NCP till his last breath.”

Addressing party workers and constituents in the Pawar clan stronghold of Baramati, in Pune district, Ajit Pawar said that lots of rumours had been spread about him “for no reason” in the past few days and urged his supporters not to fall prey to wild speculation.

“I have said before that I will remain in the NCP till my last breath. In the last few days, lots of rumours have been spread about me for no reason and a cloud of doubt created around me (referring to his joining the ruling BJP-Eknath Shinde led dispensation in the state). But I remain committed to my work and have been going about it…Do not fall prey to such speculation,” reiterated Ajit Pawar.

It may be recalled that the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and the nephew of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar had tried to form a government with the BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis after the 2019 Assembly election, further said that the recent buzz may have even cast doubts in the minds of his supporters about his next political move.

“You (Ajit Pawar’s supporters in the NCP) too may have had doubts whether I would do a repeat of 2019 [alluding to his early morning swearing-in with Devendra Fadnavis) …while I say what comes to my mind, there is a tendency to needlessly read too much into it,” said Ajit Pawar, who has been the MLA for Baramati since 1991.

Following rumours of his joining the BJP-Shinde Sena reached a peak last week, Ajit Pawar himself while speaking to media persons in Mumbai categorically scotched the speculation as “baseless”.

A piqued Ajit Pawar further remarked, “I do not like to keep clarifying before the media every time on this matter…just because I’m not seen for a while, they (the media) keep reporting me as being ‘not reachable’. Despite giving official clarification, false news of my programmes having been allegedly cancelled keep doing the rounds…this is then linked to the speculation of me joining the ruling party. Despite so many leaders and people in the State, I fail to understand why the media choses to shower so much affection on me.”

Ajit Pawar, whose droll quips drew laughter from his audience. The NCP leader was addressing party workers and voters ahead of the market committee (APMC) polls, highlighting the development projects that had been done and were currently undergoing in his assembly constituency.

Taking a swipe at the BJP at the State and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government at the Centre, Ajit Pawar said the latter, despite being in power for more than nine years now, the BJP led government had not given a single project for the benefit of Baramati. The impregnable stronghold of the Pawar clan has long been on the BJP’s radar, being marked as one of the 144 Lok Sabha constituencies across the country where the party needs to increase its strength ahead of the 2024 general election.

Meanwhile, Shinde faction spokesman Naresh Mhaske claimed that a ‘political earthquake’ was imminent in the State and that a ‘big’ NCP leader would soon join the ruling alliance. He further claimed that MLAs from the NCP, the Congress and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena (UBT) would soon be joining the Shinde-BJP government in “great numbers.”

In keeping with the tall claims and counterclaims from both the ruling and opposition MVA alliances, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), too, said that CM Shinde’s ‘departure’ from the top post was “imminent.”

“The question was who would replace Shinde?” read the headline of an edit in the Sena (UBT)’s mouthpiece Saamana, whose executive editor is Uddhav camp spokesperson Sanjay Raut.

Since the start of the buzz around Ajit Pawar reportedly planning to join the BJP, Sanjay Raut has consistently claimed that the NCP leader would never defect as he had a “bright future in the NCP” and would not like to be a “servant” under the Shinde-BJP dispensation.

Ajit Pawar, however, shot back and sharply rebuked his ally, Sanjay Raut for acting as the NCP’s spokesperson while advising the latter to mind the affairs of his own party.