Maharashtra: Day after Shah's 'right place' remark, Ajit Pawar says 'no other strong leader like PM Modi'

Ajit praises PM: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Monday said that he does not see any other strong leader like Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the national level in the present picture, stressing that there is no alternative to him.

He said that he might be criticised for his due to his remarks made before joining the state government, however, a man can have different opinions based on his experiences.

This comes a day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah, during his visit to Maharashtra where he shared the stage with Ajit Pawar at an event, said that the NCP leader is sitting at the right place after a long time.

"Ajit Dada (Pawar) has come for the first time after becoming the Deputy CM and I am sharing the stage with him, I want to tell him that after a long time, you are sitting at the right place. This was the right place but you took too long to come," Shah had said.

Ajit Pawar, the nephew of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founder Sharad Pawar, joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government along with eight party MLAs on July 2.

Ajit responds to Shah's statement

When asked about Shah's comments, Ajit Pawar said he earlier reiterated that he had taken the decision to join the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance to take the state towards development, transform the region, address several issues, and help the elected representatives complete their work in their constituencies.

"Today, I personally do not see any other leader as strong as Narendra Modi at the national level. I do not see any other alternative. Some people criticise me citing my past statements, but a man can have different opinions on the basis of his experiences," he said.

Pawar also lauded Shah and said that he took  "courageous" decisions which were not taken for last 20, after taking charge of the Cooperation Ministry.

"We as farmers should accept the fact that the decisions which were pending have been taken by Amit Shahji under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi," Ajit Pawar said.

Asked about a meeting on review of constituencies with Amit Shah during his recent visit here, he said, "We had a brief discussion on the maha-yuti (mega alliance of BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP), but detailed discussions took place on the Centre's various projects worth Rs 80,000 crore going on in the state."Ajit Pawar said along with him, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis were also present during the meeting with Shah.

(With PTI inputs)

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