Ajit Pawar assures party workers about commitment to secularism

Mumbai: Senior NCP leader and Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Friday told his party office bearers that they would not deviate from secularism. Pawar’s remark assumed a political significance as the BJP is upset over the Ajit Pawar-led faction’s refusal to attend a RSS workshop at Reshim Bagh,which is the headquarter of RSS.

Pawar held the review meeting with the party district officer bearers, social media units, district office bearers, OBC cells, minority cells and all frontal cells in South Mumbai.

A state NCP office bearer, who was present in the meeting, said that Ajit Pawar has made it clear to the party office bearers and others that they are not going to leave secularism and he had informed BJP’s top leadership about it before joining the government. “The central BJP leadership has agreed over it stating that it is a political alliance for the government not ideological alliance,” the state NCP office bearer said.   

While addressing the party workers, Ajit Pawar said, “Secularism is our ideology. Whatever the prices, we need to pay, we are ready to pay for it… we have joined the government for the development of the state.”

 After the review meeting, Mr.Pawar told the reporters that although the party state leadership has made an alliance with the BJP and Shiv Sena, this alliance needs to be strengthened at the gross root level as well in order to win more seats in Lok Sabha election. “In order to make Narendra Modi the Prime Minister for the third time, we need to ensure that the NDA and grand alliance in Maharashtra would win maximum Lok Sabha seats,” he said.

When this newspaper asked about his stand over the party’s secularism, Ajit Pawar said, “We have seen many secular political parties including Mayawati-led BSP, Mamata Banerjee’s TMC and Mehbooba Mufti-led PDP joining the BJP. We have become a part of the NDA, as the country does not have any option other than Narendra Modi’s leadership. So we decided to support Narendra Modi.”

Referring to the annual Diwali celebration gathering with NCP founder Sharad Pawar and bhau beej festivities with Supriya Sule, Ajit Pawar said, “There is a distinction between the party and the family. Both should not be mixed.”