'Some NCP Members Left Due To ED Probe': Sharad Pawar's Veiled Jibe At Ajit Pawar's Camp

Some NCP members left after the Centre launched an investigation into them through the Enforcement Directorate (ED), according to party chief Sharad Pawar.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar said on Sunday that certain party members chose to leave in light of an ongoing investigation initiated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). While addressing the issue in Pune, Pawar refrained from directly mentioning his nephew, Ajit Pawar. The latter, along with a group of rebel MLAs, recently aligned with the Shiv Sena-BJP government.

"There were some changes in the past. Some of our members left us. They (the Ajit Pawar faction) say they went for development but this is not at all true. The Centre had opened an ED investigation into them, and they had left the NCP. Some members (from the Ajit Pawar faction) were told to join them (BJP) or be sent somewhere else," Pawar was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

He was speaking to NCP members at a social media gathering organised by the party.

"However, some members were prepared to face the investigation. Anil Deshmukh (ex-home minister) was imprisoned for 14 months. Even Deshmukh was asked to change his role (loyalty), but he remained steadfast in his decision (not to leave NCP)," Pawar said.

While Ajit Pawar was sworn in as deputy chief minister, eight other NCP MLAs were sworn in as ministers in July.

According to Sharad Pawar, the state government should pay attention to the problems that ordinary people in Maharashtra face. "The state is facing issues such as unemployment, farmers are also suffering," he added.

Sharad Pawar Won't Align with BJP, Unlike Nephew Ajit Pawar: Sanjay Raut

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut has asserted that NCP president Sharad Pawar will refrain from making the "mistake" of forming an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), differing from his nephew Ajit Pawar's course. While the NCP is an integral part of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition in the state, which also includes the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress, Raut expressed his views in his weekly column 'Rokhthok' published in the Sena (UBT) mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

In his column, Raut commented, "Ajit Pawar can truly be a big leader if he forms his own political party and contests elections. Ajit Pawar's politics will collapse like a sand castle if he does the same with help of the BJP, like Eknath Shinde did. In politics, towers matter and not sand castles."

"(Sharad) Pawar feels that supporting Modi is like supporting regressive forces and those who have left his party will see their political careers ending in future. Pawar will not make the mistake of joining hands with the BJP. The issue is not about individuals, but democracy versus dictatorship," Raut asserted.

Regarding the August 5 meeting between the Pawars, Raut speculated that it might not have been politically motivated. He suggested that since Sharad Pawar holds significant responsibilities across agricultural, cooperative, and educational institutions, the meeting could have centered around their future.

Raut compared Ajit Pawar to a "carpenter bird" and predicted potential upheavals in Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's position, suggesting that Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis may bolster Ajit Pawar's endeavours.

"Ajit Pawar wants to be chief minister and BJP MLAs who support Fadnavis feel Shinde is now a burden and the party (BJP) is at a loss. Shinde's claim that he has been assured of being the chief minister after 2024 is not true because in that case Ajit Pawar wouldn't have been brought in," Raut claimed.