Sharad Pawar warned Uddhav about Sena rebellion, reveals Ajit Pawar
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar had warned then Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray about a possible revolt in the Shiv Sena but the latter was confident his MLAs won’t betray him, NCP leader Ajit Pawar has said.
A section of MLAs of the undivided Shiv Sena led by Cabinet Minister and now Chief Minister Eknath Shinde rebelled against Thackeray in June last year, leading to the fall of the coalition government of Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress.
The rebel MLAs teamed up with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form a new government under Shinde’s leadership.
NCP warned Sena
Ajit Pawar, asked by Lokmat Editor Sanjay Awate on Friday if those in the coalition government had any idea about a rebellion in the Sena, said they had an inkling much in advance and Thackeray was informed about it.
“(Sharad) Pawar saheb himself informed Thackeray. Pawar saheb had even phoned Thackeray and told him about it (rebellion in Shiv Sena). But Uddhavji said he trusts his MLAs and was confident they will not take such an extreme step,” said the NCP leader.
Ajit Pawar was the Deputy Chief Minister in the Thackeray cabinet.
He said when the first group of 15-16 rebel Sena MLAs went with Shinde, there was an urgent need to keep the remaining flock together.
But no such urgency was shown and the MLAs were allowed to go wherever they wanted, said Ajit Pawar.
In the end, 40 of the 55 Shiv Sena MLAs joined the Shinde camp.
“There was an attempt to break the trust of (Sena) MLAs. We can say some people remained unattentive,” he said, without saying who he was blaming.
Knew in advance
Asked when he learnt that trouble was brewing in the Thackeray-led party, Ajit Pawar said he heard murmurs six months before the actual rebellion.
“I had warned Uddhavji about it. Uddhavji said he had also heard the same and told me he would speak to Eknath Shinde. He (Thackeray) had said it was an internal party issue and that he would resolve it,” Ajit Pawar said.
(With Agency inputs)
