Ajit Pawar said he couldn't attend the NCP event because of another engagement. (File)
Amid speculation over his next political move, senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar on Friday said his outfit can stake a claim to the post of Maharashtra's Chief Minister "now" instead of waiting for 2024 when assembly polls are due in the state. The Leader of Opposition in the Assembly also said that he will "100 per cent" like to be Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
In an interview to Sakal Media Group in Pune, Mr Pawar said he had heard that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, before his rebellion against the Shiv Sena leadership in June 2022, was unhappy and something was going in his mind.
Mr Pawar revealed his colleague late RR Patil would have become Chief Minister in 2004 when the NCP had won more Assembly seats than its ally Congress, but a message came from Delhi that his party will get the Deputy Chief Minister's post.
Asked whether the NCP will stake a claim for the Chief Minister's post next year when assembly polls are due in Maharashtra, he remarked, "Why 2024, we are ready to stake a claim for the Chief Minister position now also." He, however, did not elaborate on the statement.
Mr Pawar on Friday skipped a meeting of his party's Mumbai unit, raising eyebrows in political circles as speculation about his next political move refuses to die down.
He played down the buzz saying he was unable to attend the NCP convention as he had to attend some other programmes happening at the same time. He insisted nothing much should be read into this.
During the interview, Mr Pawar was asked whether he would like to become Chief Minister. To this, he promptly replied, "Yes, I would 100 per cent like to be." Asked why the NCP has an affinity for the Deputy Chief Minister's position as the party has got that post on multiple occasions in the last 20 years, the veteran politician said in 2004, the NCP and the Congress fought Assembly elections in an alliance and the former had won more seats.
"We got 71 seats, while the Congress won 69. Everyone, including the Congress, thought Chief Minister would be from the NCP. However, some decisions were taken at the highest level and a message came from Delhi that the NCP will get the Deputy Chief Minister position and the Chief Minister post went to Congress," he said.
Mr Pawar said his colleague Mr Patil was chosen as the Leader of the House (Assembly), and he would have become Chief Minister in 2004 if the top post was given to the NCP.
In the subsequent Assembly polls, the Congress Scored more seats than the NCP and naturally kept the Chief Minister's post with itself, he said.
Asked whether he liked working with Congress Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan or Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray, who held the top post from November 2019 to June 2022, Mr Pawar said they worked with the latter "happily", but working with the former was out of choice.
On Mr Shinde's revolt and subsequent split in the Shiv Sena, the former deputy Chief Minister said they used to hear that Mr Shinde, then his Cabinet colleague in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, was unhappy and sensed something was going in his mind.
"We had alerted Pawar saheb (NCP president Sharad Pawar) and Thackeray was also apprised about it. The BJP had been trying to pull down the MVA government since the first day of its formation. The wife of a key politician confessed later that her husband used to go out in disguise, and later some ministers said Shinde and a particular leader used to meet," Mr Pawar said without taking any names.
He said during the MVA government, Mr Thackeray had given full control of Thane district to Shinde, then a Cabinet Minister, and some officials appointed by him had helped rebel Shiv Sena MLAs to sneak out of Mumbai and reach Surat on June 20.
Queried about him being soft on senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, Mr Pawar said the two had political and ideological differences but weren't enemies, and cited the example of Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena founder late Bal Thackeray who attacked each other during rallies and speeches but were good friends.
Mr Pawar went on to add that a commonality between him and Mr Fadnavis was that they were both born on July 22. Mr Pawar was born in 1959 and Fadnavis in 1970.
Speaking about the rise of the BJP over the last few years, Mr Pawar said it was all due to the charisma of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who managed to lead the party to a majority in consecutive Lok Sabha polls in 2014 and 2019, a feat which even veterans like former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani could not manage.
"However, today when the question is asked who after Modi, then no name comes to the fore, and we know going forward there will be coalition governments at the national level," the NCP leader added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)