Senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were not in favour of joining an alliance Uddhav Thackeray-led undivided Shiv Sena in 2019, but Nationalist Congress Party patriarch Sharad Pawar convinced them to do so, NCP leader Praful Patel told News18 in an interview.
Patel also claimed that Sharad Pawar had initially given his backing to nephew Ajit Pawar to take oath as deputy chief minister when BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis was sworn-in as Chief Minister in an early morning ceremony after the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections. Ajit Pawar had quit the government in 80 hours.
Following this, the Congress, NCP and undivided Shiv Sena had formed the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance and government in the state.
“When we formed the government in 2019 with Congress and Shiv Sena, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi weren’t willing because, for them, Uddhav Thackrey’s ideology of Hindutva was more extreme than the BJP’s. It was Sharad Pawar who convinced them to form the government with Uddhav Thackrey,” Praful Patel, now in the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP, said.
The Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP is currently part of the ruling ‘Mahayuti’ (grand alliance) consisting of the BJP and the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Patel told News18 that the undivided NCP had tried to form the government with the BJP after 2014, 2017 and 2019 elections, but things didn’t materialize. He added that the Fadvanis-Ajit Pawar oath-taking in 2019 had Sharad Pawar’s blessings initially but the Maratha strongman later backed out.
“I am witness to the fact that, in 2019, Sharad Pawar gave his nod initially… Even party MLAs and MPs were eager to form the government with the BJP,” he said.
The Rajya Sabha member further said he had dissuaded Sharad Pawar from joining hands with Uddhav Thackeray in 2019. “I opposed him because Uddhav Thackrey’s Hindutva was more extreme than the BJP. Even Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were not keen to join hands with Uddhav Thackrey because of his image. But it was Sharad Pawar who convinced the Gandhis. At that time, Ajit Pawar and I objected to Sharad Pawar’s decision. But he didn’t listen to us and formed the government. I was firm believer that Uddhav Thackrey should remain the Chief Minister for two-and-a-half years and the NCP should get rest of the tenure, but Uddhav wasn’t ready.”
Commenting on the party fielding Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra Pawar from Baramati against his cousin and Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule, Praful Patel said: “It was Ajit Pawar’s decision that Sunetra Pawar should fight elections against Supriya.”
The former Union minister added that there is “no mutual understanding” between Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar. “When we supported the BJP, I went to meet Sharad Pawar twice and told him why we joined hands with the BJP. We told him to come with us, but he didn’t respond.”
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