NCP president Sharad Pawar slammed his nephew and renegade NCP leader Ajit Pawar on Tuesday, saying his portrait should only be used with his consent and those who disagree with him should avoid from using it. Sharad Pawar's comments came after a photo of him was spotted inside the new Ajit Pawar-led faction's office.
Speaking with reporters, Pawar stated: “Only the party of which I am the national president and Jayant Patil the state president can use my photograph," news agency PTI reported.
Two days after his nephew Ajit Pawar and eight other Nationalist Congress Party MLAs joined the BJP-Shiv Sena coalition in Maharashtra, he said that anyone who "betrayed" his ideology shouldn't use his image.
“Those who betrayed my ideology and with whom I have ideological differences cannot use my photograph,” the veteran leader added.
Jayant Patil, the state NCP president, was also dismissed by the Ajit Pawar group. Patil, on the other hand, has petitioned the Assembly Speaker to remove Ajit and his accomplices from office.
No Other Leader Like PM Modi: Dy CM Ajit Pawar
Meanwhile, Ajit Pawar, the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, remarked on Tuesday that there is no leader like Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“The country is marching ahead under his (Modi’s) leadership. We have joined the government to support him,” Ajit Pawar said, after inaugurating his NCP faction’s new office in south Mumbai.
“There is no leader like Modi. There is no alternative to him,” he said.
According to Ajit Pawar, portfolio allocation in the state government may not be disclosed immediately.
He blamed the delay on CM Eknath Shinde and Dy CM Devendra Fadnavis departing for Nagpur to greet President Murmu, who is expected to arrive later in the evening.
When questioned about some members in the Shinde group are unhappy over his inclusion in the ministry, Pawar replied: “We all have decided to work together. There is no question of disgruntlement."