Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh has alleged that Ajit Pawar has been given ‘supari’ (contract) by the ruling BJP to finish the political career of NCP founder and veteran leader Sharad Pawar. Deshmukh, who belongs to the Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP said that whole of Maharashtra and India knows that Ajit and eight other MLAs joined the state government after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech in Bhopal.
“Do you know why he (Ajit Pawar) took a different path? The senior NCP leaders didn’t want to face the trouble I went through,” Deshmukh said on Thursday, referring to his arrest in an alleged corruption case.
He was indicating to the Prime Minister’s speech days before the split, in which he had accused the NCP of being involved in corruption of Rs 70,000 crore. NCP underwent a split on July 2 this year in which Ajit Pawar was sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister while other NCP MLAs who switched over from the Opposition ranks also got the ministerial berth.
Deshmukh alleged that the BJP has given ‘supari’ to Ajit Pawar to finish the political career of Sharad Pawar.
Replying to a query about Ajit Pawar’s supporters’ wanting to see him as the chief minister of Maharashtra, Deshmukh said he was not aware of what has been decided among the ruling partners in the state.
“However, he (Ajit Pawar) is being sidelined from decision-making by the BJP in the government,” Deshmukh added.
(With PTI inputs)
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