Sharad Pawar Won’t ‘Mistake’ Acquiring BJP Support: Sanjay Raut

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar, according to Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, would not commit the “mistake” of allying himself with the Bharatiya Janata Party, as did his nephew Ajit Pawar, he asserted on Sunday.

Ajit Pawar, a leader of the NCP, became the deputy chief minister of the Eknath Shinde-BJP cabinet in Maharashtra last month. Along with him, eight other NCP MLAs took the oath to serve as cabinet ministers.

Along with Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress, Sharad Pawar’s party is a member of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi in the state.

“If Ajit Pawar starts his own political party and runs for office, he may really become a powerful leader. If Ajit Pawar imitates Eknath Shinde by using the BJP, his political career would crumble like a sand mound. Towers, not sand castles, count in politics, according to Raut’s monthly column Rokhthok in Sena (UBT) mouthpiece “Saamana.”

Raut, the executive editor of Saamana, said that Ajit Pawar developed politically as a result of his uncle and that he is now striving to end his (uncle’s) political career.

Following his discussion with Ajit Pawar, Sharad Pawar has adopted a strong stance against the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Rajya Sabha member observed.

According to (Sharad) Pawar, individuals who have left his party would eventually see their political careers come to an end since supporting Modi is equivalent to supporting regressive forces. Pawar won’t make the error of allying himself with the BJP. The problem is democracy against authoritarianism, not specific people, he said.

The meeting between the Pawars (on August 5) may not have been political, according to Raut, since Sharad Pawar, who is in charge of various organizations in the agricultural, cooperative, and educational sectors, had delegated many duties to his nephew.

He suggested that the meetings may be used to deliberate on the institutions’ future.

Ajit Pawar would “make holes” in Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s chair, according to Raut, who compared him to a “carpenter bird” and said that Devendra Fadnavis, the deputy CM and a prominent member of the BJP, will give the bird strength.

“Ajit Pawar wants to be chief minister, and BJP MLAs who support Fadnavis believe that Shinde is now an unnecessary weight, leaving the party (BJP) at a loss. Since Ajit Pawar wouldn’t have been appointed, Shinde’s claim that he has been guaranteed of being chief minister until 2024 is untrue, according to Raut.