'You're 82, Why Did You Withdraw Resignation?': Ajit Openly Targets Sharad Pawar

Ajit Pawar's address also had some clear indications and warnings for the BJP and the Eknath Sinde-led Shiv Sena.

"If your age has reached 82-83, are you ever going to stop? You just give your blessings. We want you to become shatayushi (live 100 years)," said Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar on Wednesday, 5 July, as both factions of the party drew out swords in the ongoing political war following a vertical split.

After three days of taking a softer stand and keeping him out of direct line of fire, Ajit Pawar launched an all-out attack on his uncle and party supremo Sharad Pawar, even saying that the octogenarian leader should now take a backseat and only "give his blessings."

Read Sharad Pawar's rebuttal to Ajit Pawar's claims here.

In what was a clear show of strength with at least 30 MLAs by his side, Ajit Pawar and other leaders of his faction including Chhagan Bhujbal and Praful Patel openly staked claim to the party, criticised decisions taken by Sharad Pawar, revealed several failed talks of alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party since 2014, and accused Pawar senior of "constantly insulting Ajit dada."

However, the address also had some clear indications and warnings for the BJP and the Eknath Sinde-led Shiv Sena.

Here are the key statements made by Ajit Pawar and other leaders at the gathering in Mumbai's Bandra:

'You're 82, Won't You Stop?': On Sharad Pawar

Ajit Pawar began his address by saying that Sharad Pawar has always been his inspiration and that he owes his political career to him.

Constantly referring to him as 'varishtha' (senior) and 'daivat' (God), Ajit Pawar openly asked his uncle to take rest considering his age and just 'give blessings'.

"A Maharashtra government employee retires at 58. IAS-IPS officers retire at 60. In politics, parties like the BJP expect you to retire at 75, like LK Advani or Murli Manohar Joshi. The new generation wants to come forward, so why not give your blessings? Advise us if we go wrong somewhere," he said.

"If your age has reached 82-83, are you ever going to stop? You just give your blessings. We want you to become shatayushi (live 100 years)," he said.

In a veiled taunt at MP and Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule, he said: "Is it our fault who we were born to?"

Ajit accused Sharad Pawar of attempting to sideline him, manipulate him, and portraying him as the 'villain' in every scenario. He also indicated that he will have to counter the state-wide gatherings that Sharad Pawar has embarked upon.

'Wanted Supriya To Be Party Chief': On Sharad Pawar's Resignation

Recalling the events in May 2023 when Sharad Pawar resigned as the party chief, Ajit Pawar said that he should not have resigned if he wanted to back out.

"Sharad Pawar said that he will form a committee with me, Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare, Jayant Patil, Dhananjay Munde, Anil Patil and Hasan Mushrif, etc, and asked us to decide and declare Supriya Sule as the party chief. We agreed to that. Nobody knows what happened in two days. He withdrew his resignation. If you wanted to withdraw, why did you resign in the first place?" he asked.

"Are we not capable of running a government? Am I not among the top leaders of the state? They why did we never get any blessings?" he asked.

'Several Attempts Since 2014': On Deals With BJP

In what could be seen as a tell-all speech over the party's association with the BJP, Ajit Pawar detailed the number of times the NCP has held talks with the saffron party for an alliance since 2014 but they always fell through.

2014:

"In 2014, the BJP had offered 16 seats each to Shiv Sena and NCP. But the BJP changed its mind later. Nitin Gadkari was keen on it but other BJP leaders weren't. After the BJP won at the Centre and the state in 2014, the equations had altered," he revealed.

2017:

"In 2017, discussions for an alliance with the BJP took place at the Varsha Bungalow. There was me, Jayant Patil, Sunil Tatkare, present on orders of the senior leaders. From the BJP, there was Sudhir Mungantiwar, Devendra Fadnavis, Vinod Tawde, and Chandrakant Patil. The portfolios and ministerial posts were discussed. Sunil Tatkare was called to Delhi. The BJP told us that they will not leave the Shiv Sena, its ally for 25 years and if there has to be an alliance, it will be of the BJP, Sena, and the NCP," Ajit Pawar said.

"Our senior leaders did not agree. They said we cannot ally with the Shiv Sena since it is a communal party," he added.

2019:

"After 2019 election results, you know what the situation was. Senior leaders of the NCP, BJP, Fadnavis, Praful Patel and I met at a businessman's house. There were five such meetings held but Fadnavis and I were told not to say a word about it to anybody. We did not speak anywhere. Things suddenly changed and we were told that we will ally with the Shiv Sena. I don't understand how the Shiv Sena went from being a communal party in 2017 to an ally two years later and the BJP that was being friendly was called communal. It does not work like that," Ajit Pawar said.

'I Have Xerox Copies': On Events After Uddhav-Shinde Split

Narrating the events following the MVA government's fall in June 2022, Ajit Pawar said that he had been telling the Uddhav Thackeray that there is some unrest in the Shiv Sena and that he should intervene.

"All 53 NCP MLAs and nine MLCs met in my chambers and signed a letter drafted by Hasan Mushrif to request the senior leaders of the party that we should be in the government, or the development work will stop, there will be hurdles, there will be no vikas, and the people will question us," he added.

"The BJP called us to Indore for talks saying that such discussions cannot take place over the phone. But we were told that if we go to Indore, the media will know. I said it's ok if the media knows since we are trying to form the government. But we were asked to cancel our tickets. Eknath Shinde had not taken oath yet," he said.

"I have the Xerox copy of all signatures. I can show it too. But why am I made the villain every time? Despite that, he is still my God," Ajit Pawar said

'A Mess': On Opposition Unity

Ajit Pawar openly targeted Sharad Pawar's attempts to form the Opposition alliance for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

"There is an attempt to form a mess of an Opposition alliance. We spoke to a few friends in the Opposition. But Kejriwal, who controls Delhi and Punjab, walked out and started tweeting. MK Stalin stayed for lunch but not for the press briefing. Taking such a mess together, a country can't be run. Same happened with the Janata Party in the past," he said.

'Won't Allow Discrimination': Clear Message to BJP and Shinde

On the lines of Sharad Pawar's speeches, Ajit Pawar spoke a substantial amount about the current issues like caste, communalism, unemployment, and inflation, indicating that he won't "tolerate any discrimination."

"I want to tell MLAs of the Shinde Sena and the BJP that my image in Maharashtra is that of a strict and 'dabbang' leader who does what he wants. But I want to clarify that I will not allow any discrimination be it against Muslims, Adivasis, the backward classes or women.

"Do I not see the issues of unemployment and inflation? We need to tackle them. A conducive environment needs to be built to tackle unemplyment and that cannot be done while being in the Opposition," he added.

He also said that there are attempts to instigate the minorities but he would not let any kind of injustice take place with them.

'My Vehicle Ain't Moving Ahead': On CM post

Ajit Pawar also openly spoke about his ambitions to "lead the state" for which he "needs to be the chief."

"I have become the deputy CM five times, that's a record. But my vehicle doesn't move ahead of that. If I want to do certain things for the state, I need to be the chief. I want to tell the people of Maharashtra that we need to take the NCP forward, the symbol should be with us and the party too. That can't be jinxed in any way," he said.

He also said that the he will ensure the party crosses its highest tally of 71 it had won in 2004.

He assured party workers that the faction will contest at least 90 seats, including those where the Congress will contest.