Ajit Pawar Meets Sr Pawar for 'Blessings'

MUMBAI: Ajit Pawar and his supporters on Sunday caught Supriya Sule and other Sharad Pawar loyalists off guard. In a surprise move, nine NCP ministers along with Praful Patel met Sharad Pawar at Y.B. Chavan centre in Mumbai to seek his blessings. Sule then hurriedly informed NCP leaders attending the meeting of Opposition parties ahead of the monsoon session of the state legislature to rush to Y.B. Chavan centre to remain present when the group led by Ajit meets the NCP supremo.

A joint meeting of the Opposition leaders took place in Mumbai to discuss the issues to be raised in the Monsoon session which begins on Monday. Congress leaders Ashok Chavan, Nana Patole and Prithviraj Chavan and Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders Aaditya Thackeray, Ajay Chowdhary and Ambadas Danve were present in the meeting. However, NCP leaders Jayant Patil and Jitendra Awhad left soon after receiving Sule’s call. Only Khadse from the NCP then attended the joint press conference of the Opposition.

“I got a call from Supriya Sule who asked me to reach Y.B. Chavan centre soon. I do not know why Ajit Pawar and other MLAs have come here,” Jayant Patil said when he reached Y.B. Chavan centre.

After the NCP minister’s meeting, Jayant Patil said that the nine NCP ministers have expressed regret and desire to work together. However, Sharad Pawar has not commented on their reconciliation proposal, Patil said.

“We are not in the government. Some people have gone to the other side and they have supported the government. But we have not supported the government. There has been a division in our party. These are facts. All of us are working under the leadership of Sharad Pawar and we will sit with Shiv Sena and Congress in the Vidhan Sabha,” Jayant Patil said.

The NCP leader further stated that if all nine ministers “return to the party”, then he will be very happy about it as the president of Maharashtra NCP.

While not confirming Patil’s claim about expressing regret, Praful Patel said, “All of us came here to seek the blessings of respected Sharad Pawar. We came here without asking for any appointment after getting information that Sharad Pawar would be at the centre. We requested him that the NCP should stay united. On this, he did not give any reaction but he listened to us carefully,” Patel said.

Apart from Praful Patel, Cabinet ministers Hasan Mushrif, Chhagan Bhujbal, Aditi Tatkare, Dilip Walse Patil and deputy speaker of Maharashtra Assembly Narhari Zirwal met the NCP founder.