Maharashtra: Ajit Pawar threatens to walk out of ruling alliance over Sena leader's remark
Ajit-led NCP is also peeved with Shivtare over the fact that he had unilaterally announced his candidature from prestigious Baramati seat
The NDA in Maharashtra seems to have landed in a trouble ahead of the Lok Sabha elections with the NCP led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar threatening to walk out of the ruling alliance if the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde doesn’t expel its leader Vijay Shivtare from the party.
Talking to the media, NCP spokesperson Umesh Patil on Monday stated that a meeting of senior leaders of the party will be held on Tuesday at which a final decision will be taken. He said the language used by Shivtare against Ajit Pawar was in a bad taste and no self-respecting person will tolerate it.
The NCP’s firm stand on the issue has put the chief minister in a spot, as Shivtare is a former minister who holds considerable clout in Purandar and neighbouring areas, and any action against him on the poll eve may damage the party’s poll prospects in the general elections.
On the other hand, Shivtare has made it clear that he will not apologise for his comment on Ajit Pawar and that he stood by it. “I had only used a Marathi saying about a scorpion sitting atop a Shivling, as per which you cannot kill the scorpion without damaging the Shivling. I had not used any objectionable language and I stand by my observation,” he added.
The NCP’s Ajit Pawar faction is also peeved with Shivtare over the fact that he had unilaterally announced his candidature from the prestigious Baramati Lok Sabha seat amid seat-sharing talks between the NDA partners. This despite the fact that the Ajit-led NCP is keen on fielding Sunetra, Ajit Pawar's wife, against sitting MP Supriya Sule, daughter of Sharad Pawar.
Shivtare, who is a two-term MLA, said he wanted to put an end to the domination of the Pawars over Baramati and hence is keen on contesting from that seat.