Sharad Pawar, silent so far on his nephew's age barb, declared today that effectiveness is the bottom-line whatever anyone's age. "I am still effective, whether I am 82 or 92," the 83-year-old NCP chief said in Delhi, where he had called a national executive meet of the party and formally expelled 12 rebels -- including his nephew and former top aide Praful Patel.
Yesterday, Ajit Pawar, in a shocking outburst, had questioned his uncle's playing a key political role in the party at his age.
"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?" the 63-year-old had said.
The comments had made many of his supporters cringe and brought what was so far a political divide into the personal domain.
It brought a stinging response from Supriya Sule, who till then, had maintained that whatever his political stance, Ajit Pawar will remain her "big brother".
"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.
Sharad Pawar, however, was circumspect today when asked if he felt "cheated" by his nephew. "No, the party is supreme and I am bound by the decision of the party," he said.
The Ajit Pawar faction has already declared the national executive meet illegal. "No person within the party has any authority to call for any meeting of the National Executive/National Working Committee/ National Office Bearers / State Party Presidents till such time the dispute is finally decided by the ECI," read a statement issued by the faction.
Sharad Pawar had hit back. "I am the president of NCP, if someone says (that he is the president) then it is completely false, there's no truth in it. There's no importance if someone (Ajit Pawar) says something," Mr Pawar said today.
The faction led by Ajit Pawar, who crossed over to the ruling coalition and took oath as the Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister on Sunday, have claimed they are the real NCP.
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