Ajit Pawar Capable Of Becoming Maha CM, Sanjay Raut Says. Taunts Shinde With ‘Underserving’ Jibe

Sanjay Raut mocked Eknath Shinde saying that some undeserving people had gone on to become Chief Minister by engineering splits while he supported Ajit Pawar who expressed his ambition to become CM.

Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut on Saturday said that Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar was capable of becoming Maharashtra chief minister since he has vast administrative experience. The statement comes days after the two engaged in a verbal tussle. In an interview, Ajit Pawar on Friday said that the NCP is ready to take the role of Maharashtra Chief Minister now instead of waiting for it until the 2024 state assembly polls.

Raut, a key aide of Uddhav Thackeray, mocked incumbent Eknath Shinde saying that some undeserving people had gone on to become Chief Minister by engineering splits. Shinde had led a rebellion along with 40 MLAs in June last year bringing down the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.

"Who would not like to be chief minister? And Ajit Pawar is capable of becoming chief minister. He has been in politics for so many years now and has been minister several times. He holds a record for having served as deputy CM for the most number of times. Everyone thinks one should become CM," MP Raut told reporters, as quoted by news agency PTI.

Earlier, when asked if he had chief ministerial ambitions, Ajit Pawar said: "I would 100 per cent like to be (CM)." "Why 2024, we are ready to stake a claim for the CM position now also," he told the Sakal Media Group, as quoted by PTI.

When asked about the former deputy chief minister's remarks, "He (Pawar) has not expressed this desire for the first time. So my best wishes to him." These statements come amid intense speculation about Pawar's next political move, as the mercurial NCP leader cancelled some of his programmes recently, went incommunicado briefly and skipped the party's one-day convention in Mumbai on Friday.

Speculations Around Ajit Pawar Joining BJP

Ajit Pawar has dismissed the speculation about his joining the BJP as he said he will be with the NCP till he is alive. Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule also recently said that Pawar was not in touch with the saffron party.

Pawar and Raut had a verbal tussle over the latter's weekly column in Shiv Sena (UBT) mouthpiece 'Saamana' which mentioned a meeting between NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray.

Raut, in his column, had claimed that Sharad Pawar had told Uddhav Thackeray that the NCP would never align with the BJP, though "if anyone takes a personal decision to leave, it is their individual issue".

Ajit Pawar, on Tuesday, hit back saying that some spokespersons of other parties were behaving like spokespersons of the NCP.

Ajit Pawar's Stint With BJP

On November 23, 2019, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Devendra Fadnavis and NCP's Ajit Pawar were sworn in as chief minister and deputy CM, respectively, but the government fell without proving its majority on November 28.

Ajit Pawar went back to the NCP and was made deputy chief minister in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government led by Uddhav Thackeray.

On November 23, 2019, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Devendra Fadnavis and NCP's Ajit Pawar were sworn in as chief minister and deputy CM, respectively, but the government fell without proving its majority on November 28.

Ajit Pawar went back to the NCP and was made deputy chief minister in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government led by Uddhav Thackeray.