Shiv Sena (UBT) on Wednesday said Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar gave the stature to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and not otherwise. The remarks came on media reports quoting a former Congress chief minister that Ajit offered Union Cabinet berth to Sharad Pawar.
"...Ajit Pawar is not that big a leader that he can make an offer to Sharad Pawar. Pawar Sahab made Ajit Pawar, Ajit Pawar didn't make Sharad Pawar....His (Sharad Pawar) stature is high..." Raut said.
The former chief minister, on condition of anonymity, said Ajit told Sharad Pawar that he would be either be part of the Union Cabinet as agriculture minister or chairperson of Niti Aayog and his daughter Supriya Sule and state NCP president Jayant Patil would be accommodated at the Centre and in the state government respectively.
Sule rejected media reports saying, "I have not got any offer, I only know about the 15 August sales offer."
The ex-CM said Sharad Pawar rejected the offer saying he would not align with BJP in any manner.
On Wednesday, state Congress president Nana Patole said they did not approve of meetings taking place "secretly" between Sharad Pawar and Ajit and that it is a matter of concern for his party. "It is a matter of concern for us and we do not approve of the meetings taking place between the Pawars secretly. However, this matter will be discussed by the top Congress leaders. The (opposition) INDIA alliance will also discuss it, so it would not be appropriate for me to discuss it further," he said.
In a vertical split in the NCP, Ajit parted ways and joined the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government as the deputy chief minister in June.
With inputs from PTI
First Published: Aug 16, 2023 11:30 AM IST
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