Ajit Pawar hit out at uncle Sharad Pawar from the rally that was a show of strength
The Pawar family feud played out on stage on Wednesday as Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) factions headed by Ajit Pawar and his uncle Sharad Pawar held rival meetings in Mumbai.
Ajit Pawar, who has led a mutiny against his uncle and NCP chief Sharad Pawar, appeared to question the 83-year-old's leadership of the party he now wants to take over.
"In other parties, leaders retire after an age. In BJP, leaders retire at 75, when are you going to stop? You should also give new people a chance. If we make mistakes, tell us. Your age is 83, will you ever stop or not? You give us blessings," Ajit Pawar, 63, said, addressing a meeting where he flaunted 29 of the party's 53 MLAs.
"Everybody has his innings. The most productive years are from 25 to 75 years," said Ajit Pawar, who joined the Eknath Shinde-led government in a shock move on Sunday.
Without naming his cousin and MP Supriya Sule - Sharad Pawar's daughter - whose elevation as NCP's working president was seen as a snub to him, Ajit Pawar said, "Is it our fault that we weren't born in a powerful family?
Supriya Sule's counter came at the parallel rally of Sharad Pawar, where 14 MLAs showed up.
"Some people are saying that people who are senior now should give us blessings. Why should they stop working? Ratan Tata is 86 years old. Serum Institute's Cyrus Poonawala's age is 84. Amitabh Bachchan is 82...," Supriya Sule said, also naming Warren Buffet and Farooq Abdullah.
"Disrespect us, not our father," she said.
In his all-out attack on his uncle, Ajit Pawar also accused him of disregarding the party's wish to join hands with the BJP last year, when Eknath Shinde led a similar coup in the Shiv Sena of Uddhav Thackeray.
Ajit Pawar said the NCP MLAs had signed a letter confirming their intention to tie up with the BJP.
"We all asked Sharad Pawar to accept our stand or else there will be issues in our constituency. A committee comprising me, Praful Patel and Jayant Patil was formed to speak to BJP. At the time, our senior (Sharad Pawar) asked me not to go as the media will get a whiff. He told me to speak over the phone. The Eknath Shinde government had still not been formed," Ajit Pawar said.
According to him, the NCP held five meetings with BJP on government formation in 2019 when long-time allies BJP and Shiv Sena parted ways over the Chief Minister post.
"In 2019, we had five meetings with BJP to form the government and all of a sudden, I was informed that there won't be any alliance with BJP, we will go with Shiv Sena," he said.
"They (Sharad Pawar camp) called Shiv Sena a casteist party in 2017 and formed a government with them in 2019," Ajit Pawar said, adding, "I don't know why I am being made a villain."
The factional war between the veteran and his nephew has reached the Election Commission. While the Sharad Pawar camp has stressed that he continues to lead the party, the rebel faction has made a claim for the party name and symbol.
The Sharad Pawar camp has also written to Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar, seeking disqualification of nine MLAs, including Ajit Pawar, who joined the Eknath Shinde-led government Sunday.