As it nears its 25th anniversary, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is at a crossroads, but 82-year-old Sharad Pawar—who is working for Opposition-unity at the national level—is confident of resurrecting the party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls.
The chief architect of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the marquee anti-BJP coalition, may not have many MLAs and MPs with him, but has assured that a new team will be in place soon and that he will hit the streets to campaign.
Pawar, on Sunday, seemed to be unfazed and maintained his sense of humour as his nephew Ajit Pawar quit as Leader of Opposition and joined the BJP-led coalition to become the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
In Pune, when reporters asked as to who the “reliable face” in the NCP was, the 82-year-old raised his hand and said “Sharad Pawar”.
Pawar's daughter and the party's working president Supriya Sule shared the clip of Pawar's statement, with a set of emojis that seemed to indicate his resolve.
The veteran politician, who had been a four-time Chief Minister and three-term Union minister, also took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Two days ago Modi had talked about NCP and its fate ... mentioned irrigation complaints and allegations of corruption. I am happy that Modi has absolved some NCP colleagues of corruption charges as they are now inducted as ministers in the government," he said.
Pawar said that he would not call the developments a split of his home. “I will never say that my home has split, this issue is not regarding my home, this is the issue of people. I am worried about the future of those who left,” he said.
To a question whether it was a googly from BJP, he said: “This is not googly ... it is a robbery. It is not a small thing.”
However, he said that he would not take the battle to court, which is a significant statement as Ajit has claimed the NCP symbol. “We won’t move court but we will go among the public. Our real strength comes from our people, our supporters.”
Pawar also promised action against senior NCP leaders Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare: “Being the president, I had appointed Praful Patel (as Working President) and Sunil Tatkare (as Treasurer) but they did not follow their responsibilities. Therefore, I have to take some action against them,” he said.
The 82-year-old further said that he would take the blessings of Y B Chavan on Monday and hold a public meeting.