"You say I am old but you don't know me. We have shown in the past that you can empower the community with the help of the people. Many people have been defeated before with the help of the young generation," said Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar at a rally in Maharashtra's Beed, taking a clear jibe at his nephew Ajit Pawar.
The address by Sharad Pawar was followed by a few days of political turmoil in the state following his 'secret' meeting with Ajit Pawar last week and the claims by the Congress party of Ajit having been offered the chief minister's post by Prime Minister Narendra Modi if he gets the NCP supremo to join the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
After refuting claims of any such offers and assuring Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress that he will not be jumping ship, Sharad Pawar made sure to target the rebels, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and PM Modi in his address in Beed, a stronghold of the NCP the home turf of former party stalwart Dhananjay Munde, who is now with Ajit's faction.