In a veiled attack on Ajit Pawar camp leaders, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday said that some party members chose to leave the party due to an ongoing investigation initiated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). He was speaking to NCP members at a social media gathering organised by the party.
Without directly referring to his nephew Ajit Pawar, who orchestrated the move of rebel MLAs to join the Shiv Sena-BJP government, Pawar said their claim that they wanted to be a part of the government for the cause of development was not true.
'They left the NCP...'
"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 launched an ED inquiry against them and they have left the NCP. Some members (from the Ajit Pawar faction) were told to join them (BJP) or they will be sent somewhere else," Pawar claimed.
"However, some members were ready to face the inquiry. (Ex-home minister) Anil Deshmukh was in jail for 14 months. Even Deshmukh was asked to change his role (loyalty) but he stood firm on his decision (to not quit NCP)," Pawar said.
State government should pay attention to the problems
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.
Notably, Sharad Pawar's nephew Ajit Pawar and eight MLAs of NCP joined the Eknath Shinde-led state government last month. Later, Ajit Pawar was appointed Deputy Chief Minister and 8 other NCP MLAs take oath as Cabinet ministers.
(With agencies input)
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