NCP leader Sharad Pawar claimed all is well with the family, a day after his nephew took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister in the Eknath Shinde government along with 8 other MLAs.
“There's no problem in the family,” Sharad Pawar told NDTV, adding, “We don't discuss politics in the family. Everyone takes their own decision".
Sharad Pawar left his residence in the morning to visit the memorial of Maharashtra's first chief minister Yashwantrao Chavan in Karad.
After paying a visit to the memorial of the late Yashwantrao Chavan, Pawar spoke at an event in Satara.
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has moved a petition before Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar, seeking the disqualification of Ajit Pawar and eight other MLAs who have taken oath as ministers in the Eknath Shinde-led government. The NCP's disciplinary committee has also passed a resolution to disqualify the nine legislators. The committee chief, Jaiprakash Dandegaonkar, submitted a report to NCP president Sharad Pawar late Sunday evening after passing the resolution.
“These actions of the nine MLAs call for immediate disqualification as not only are such defections ipso facto seriously damaging to the party but also that if allowed to continue as members, there is a very real likelihood that they will continue to try and undermine the interests of the party," the resolution said.
Two NCP members who attended Ajit Pawar's oath-taking ceremony have already been ousted from the party.
With respect to the legality of the step taken by his nephew, Pawar said, "About legal issues, I don't know, our state president Jayant Patil is consulting. This info will be available only with him at this point of time."
Despite the rift within the party, Sharad Pawar assured that the mutiny will not have any consequences on the Opposition parties' meeting that is scheduled to be held in Bengaluru on July 17 and 18.
"Yesterday, those who contacted me include (Trinamool chief) Mamata Banerjee, (Bihar Chief Minister) Nitish Kumar, (AAP leader) Arvind Kejriwal, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, (DMK president) and M K Stalin. The meeting will decide the future course of action," he said.
Ajit Pawar’s cousin Supriya Sule has also echoed similar sentiments saying she can never fight with her elder brother and “will always love him as a sister.”