File photo of Ajit Pawar
Credit: PTI Photo
Pune: Days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi targeted Sharad Pawar with a 'wandering soul' jibe, his estranged nephew and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Wednesday said he didn't know who was the target of PM's diatribe.
Attacking the Pawar senior without taking his name, Modi had said a 'bhatakti aatma' in Maharashtra spoils others’ good work if it does not manage success.
"Though I was present at the PM's (Lok Sabha) rally (in Pune), I don't know whom the remarks referred to," Ajit Pawar told reporters on Wednesday.
When I get an opportunity to share the dais with the PM in the next rally, I will certainly ask him who was the target of his remarks and then I will answer your query, he said when asked about Modi's remarks.
"Some 'wandering souls' in Maharashtra ushered in an era of political instability 45 years ago for their ambitions," Modi had said.
He was apparently referring to Sharad Pawar's rebellion against the then chief minister of Maharashtra Vasantdada Patil in 1978, leading to the collapse of the government.
Hitting back at Modi, Sharad Pawar on Tuesday said his soul is restless for the cause of farmers and the common man, and he is ready to be restless '100 times' to highlight their plight.
Notably, Ajit Pawar had rebelled against his political mentor Sharad Pawar last year and joined the Mahayuti government comprising Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and BJP with his loyalist MLAs.
He staked claim to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) name and its political symbol, a clock, which was allotted to him by the Election Commission of India.
The Sharad Pawar camp chose to be called as Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) and was allotted the 'man blowing Turha' symbol for elections.
The NCP (SP) is highlighting 'betrayal' by Ajit Pawar in its campaigning for Lok Sabha elections with 83-year-old Pawar hitting the ground running and conducting rallies across Maharashtra.