Sharad Pawar, the leader of the NCP, has guaranteed his supporters in Pune that he would not collaborate with the BJP.
Pawar has exhorted his employees to keep working for the party.
According to a report in The Indian Express, Pawar said that the BJP is making a concerted effort to ensure that the NCP and its emblem are transferred to the group headed by Ajit Pawar.
According to the article, he said that he would prevent the BJP from carrying out its agenda.
According to the report, Pawar said these things when he met with the team of Pune NCP leaders in Delhi.
Pawar’s response comes as his nephew Ajit Pawar, the current deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, approaches the Election Commission of India to assert his ownership of the NCP and its emblem.
Additionally, the Ajit Pawar group asserts that they recognize Sharad Pawar as their leader.
Ajit Pawar’s group has been utilizing Sharad Pawar’s pictures on display boards and hoardings.
At the Lokmanya Tilak National Award ceremony in Pune earlier, NCP Chief Sharad Pawar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined the platform.
The award was given to Modi in honor of his “supreme leadership” and for “awakening the feeling of patriotism among citizens”. Seven years have passed since the two last shared a stage.
Pawar refused to share the platform with Modi despite demands from opposition INDIA alliance members to do so.
According to Shiv Sena (UBT) publication Saamana, it is “a bone of contention” because Sharad Pawar himself is honoring and presenting an award to the Prime Minister.
The Sharad Pawar-led side has insisted that it is collaborating with the Congress and Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena.
The Ajit Pawar camp, on the other side, is becoming more allied with regional BJP and Shiv Sena leaders, including Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Ajit Pawar recently appeared in public with Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at the ‘Shasan Aplya Daari’ (government at your doorstep) event in Purandar, and during that appearance, he talked for thirty minutes to defend his choice to unite with the BJP-Shiv Sena.
He said that by working together, he was able to advance the state, something that was impossible when in the opposition.