Ajit Pawar’s CM ambition will remain a dream: Sharad Pawar

In a strong statement, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar on Thursday said that the ambition of his rebel nephew Ajit Pawar to become Maharashtra’s Chief Minister would remain a dream and would never be realised.

Meanwhile, Pawar’s daughter and NCP Working President Supriya Sule asserted that that the swearing-in ceremonies of Ajit Pawar as Deputy Chief Minister on November 23, 2019, and July 2, 2023, occurred without her father's knowledge.

The statement of 82-year-old Pawar comes just a couple of days after Ajit Pawar - in his capacity as NCP National President - wrote an open letter to the people of the state in which he justified his decision to break ranks with the Maha Vikas Aghadi and join the BJP-led NDA camp.

In the letter, Ajit Pawar skipped mentioning his uncle. Instead, Ajit wrote that he draws "inspiration" from the late Yashwantrao Chavan - the last Chief Minister of Bombay State, the first Chief Minister of Maharashtra and later the Deputy Prime Minister. Notably, Chavan was the mentor of senior Pawar.

The 64-year-old Ajit Pawar joined the Eknath Shinde-headed Maha Yuti government and became Deputy Chief Minister alongside BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis on 2nd July 2023.

Ever since Ajit joined the Maha Yuti (NDA in Maharashtra), speculations are rife that he came with a prearranged agreement, whereby he would eventually become the Chief Minister replacing Shinde, the leader of the Shiv Sena, who faces the proverbial sword of Damocles in the wake of disqualification proceedings against him.

However, Fadnavis, who crafted the new alliance which has changed the political course of the state, ruled out any leadership change. “…Eknath Shinde is the Chief Minister now and there is no reason why he would be replaced. Not ahead of Lok Sabha elections, not before the Vidhan Sabha polls, there is no scope for a leadership change in Maharashtra in the near future…the (2024) elections will be fought under his leadership… Whenever the appropriate time comes, we shall have Ajit Pawar as Chief Minister for a complete five years… ,” Fadnavis said.

In this backdrop, when a question was asked to Sharad Pawar, he replied: “… (Ajit Pawar becoming the Chief Minister) is only his dream… It will never happen in reality.”

Ajit Pawar has made his chief ministerial ambition known multiple times.

So far, the Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction has not yet reacted to the statement of senior Pawar.

On the other hand, Sule said that with both the 2019 and 2023 ceremonies, her father was kept in the dark.

“Both these (events) have taken place without the knowledge of Pawar Saheb,” said Sule.

A day earlier Sule had said that she would be the first to garland Ajit Pawar if he becomes the Chief Minister.

In 2019 when the Vidhan Sabha polls threw up a fractured mandate and the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance broke, then Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari administered oath to Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar as Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister, respectively, on the morning of 23 November, 2019. However, that government caved in within 80 hours.

Following this, on November 28, 2019, Uddhav Thackeray, the President of the Shiv Sena, became the Chief Minister, heading the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, which was a coalition of the Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress. Ajit Pawar subsequently took on the position of Deputy Chief Minister.

On 20 June 2022, Shiv Sena’s Eknath Shinde raised a banner of revolt against Thackeray and the MVA government collapsed. On 30 June, Koshyari administered oath to Shinde and Fadnavis as Chief Minister, and Deputy Chief Minister, respectively.

Ajit Pawar later became Leader of Opposition. However, on 2 July 2023, he switched over to the NDA camp and became the Deputy Chief Minister of the state.

Later justifying his stand, Ajit Pawar referred to instances in 2014, 2017, 2019 and 2022 when his party had engaged in negotiations with the BJP.