No one stole the party, says Ajit Pawar in veiled retort to Sharad Pawar

Baramati (Maharashtra): NCP chief and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Tuesday took an indirect jab at his estranged uncle and NCP-SP President Sharad Pawar, saying that no one had stolen the party as 80 per cent of party MLAs and workers are with him.

Addressing a poll rally for his wife and Baramati Lok Sabha seat candidate Sunetra Pawar, he said: "I took a different stance. I am not alone but Praful Patel, Hasan Mushrif, Dhananjay Munde, Dilip Walse Patil and more than 80 per cent of MLAs took this stand. The reason for this is to solve the problems of the people and also for the development cause."

"Neither (Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief) Eknath Shinde nor Ajit Pawar stole the party. Today 80 per cent of the people are with both of us. Therefore, the Election Commission gave party symbols and names. Some people make the issue emotional, saying they stole the party. Are we thieves? Are we dacoits? We are not thieves or dacoits but we are those who work for the development," Ajit Pawar said, exhorting party workers not to get carried away by emotional appeals.

He also criticised his estranged cousin and NCP-SP MP Supriya Sule, alleging that in these last 12 years, no funds have come from the Centre for the Baramati constituency.

Meanwhile, state NCP chief Sunil Tatkare, who is the party nominee from Raigad seat against Shiv Sena-UBT's Anant Geete, said that the MahaYuti government is working in a more dynamic manner to strengthen the hands of the leadership at the national level that has crafted the Vision 2047.

"(PM) Narendra Modi is working to bring the country on par with the developed nations in the next five years. A stable government is required. The stable government was formed under the leadership of Narendra Modi in 2014 after Manmohan Singh's UPA government. Narendra Modi and Amit Shah have placed different constituent parties in it," he said.