'Vote for my LS candidate', Ajit Pawar tells supporters; takes veiled jibe at Sharad Pawar's age

Ajit Pawar split the NCP in July last year and joined the Eknath Shinde government along with eight MLAs. He has since then routinely justified his revolt by saying elders, a reference to octogenarian Sharad Pawar, should have given way to the next generation.

Mumbai: In a statement that intensified the power struggle and war-of-words between the two NCP factions, Ajit Pawar took a jibe at Sharad Pawar over the latter’s age and asked people not be sentimental about appeals like "last election" for the latter.

The development took place in Baramati, the bastion of the Pawar family in Pune district.

In June-July 2023, Ajit Pawar rebelled against Sharad Pawar and declared himself as the NCP President and joined the NDA camp to become the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra alongside BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis in the Maha Yuti government led by Eknath Shinde.

Over the past few months, Ajit Pawar has been speaking against his octogenarian uncle, and once again attacked the 83-year-old, who is his mentor.

"I do not know when some people are going to stop. There might be a sentimental appeal that this would be the last election…do not know which will be the last election,” Ajit Pawar said.

"You listened to a senior (Sharad Pawar) for so many years. Now listen to me and vote for the Lok Sabha candidate I am going to field,” he said and spoke about his access to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Sharad Pawar-led parent group, however, hit back. "Ajit Pawar must think about his inhuman comments in which he allegedly prayed for the death of Sharad Pawar. Maharashtra now knows what kind of a man Ajit Pawar is," said NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) leader Jitendra Awhad.