MUMBAI: Sharad Pawar gets going.
The 83-year-old NCP founder on Saturday set out to rebuild the party, which suffered a huge blow on July 2 when his nephew Ajit Pawar along with eight of his loyalists, including senior Pawar's close aides, joined the BJP-led NDA government in Maharashtra, from Nasik.
Ajit Pawar was rewarded with the post of Deputy Chief Minister. His loyalists were inducted as Ministers in the cabinet.
Sharad Pawar addressed a public rally in Yeola in Nasik, the constituency of Chhagan Bhujbal.
Chhagan Bhujbal is an Ajit Pawar loyalist and presently a minister in the NDA government in Maharashtra.
“I am neither retired nor tired… I will continue to work for the people. In the present cabinet, the age of the ministers is between 60 to 70 years. Morarji Desai became prime minister of India at the age of 85. Age is not an issue, it is energy and health which counts. Age cannot be a barrier in the work if the person is fit and fine,” Sharad Pawar affirmed in response to his nephew's jibe that the 83-year-old uncle should quit and take rest at home.
Cautioning against ageism, Sharad Pawar said if people continue with such insults, the people will give them a fitting reply.
The senior Pawar apologized to the people of Yeola in Nasik district for fielding the wrong candidates (including Bhujbal) in the constituency during the last polls.
Moreover, the sitting Lok Sabha MP Udayan Raje Bhosale deserted NCP and joined the BJP after winning from the constituency in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. But in the bypoll, Raje was defeated by the NCP candidate.
En route to Nasik, Sharad Pawar was accorded a rousing reception by his supporters and the rains. Pawar got wet in the rain but it didn't dampen his spirit.
Pawar said that he has come to meet the people of Yeola. He said he has not come to anyone in particular but to put forth his views on the current political situation in India.
Sharad Pawar said that the Nasik district has a history and legacy that always stood with secular and progressive ideology despite many odds.
“When Yashwantrao Chavan was called in Delhi and inducted as defence minister in Pandit Nehru’s cabinet, Chavan got elected unopposed from Nasik. This is a different land. Therefore, I also decided to start rebuilding the party from Nasik. When I left Congress in the 1980s and formed my own party, Nasik people elected all our candidates in state assembly elections,” Sharad Pawar recalled.
The rebel NCP minister Chhagan Bhujbal lost in Mumbai, but they wanted him in the state assembly. “That time, I only chose the Yeola constituency for him and later he got elected and this constituency stood with him for the last 20 years. Yeola stood with our ideology. But our people left us. I accept my error of judgment and extend the apology publically. In upcoming elections, this error will be surely corrected by fielding the right candidates,” Sharad Pawar said.
Sharad Pawar also clarified that he had talked with BJP several times, but that does not mean they were joining hands with the BJP. He said in a democracy, they do have dialogues with all parties that do not mean they are going with these people. Earlier Ajit Pawar revealed that NCP planned to form a government with BJP but at the eleventh hour, Sharad Pawar backtracked.
