No dispute in Pawar family: Jayant Patil

There are no issues within the Pawar family, state NCP president and water resources department minister Jayant Patil said on Thursday.

The statement of Patil, a close aide of the Pawar family, assumes significance in the wake of the NCP patriarch Sharad Pawar snubbed his grand nephew Parth Pawar, for demanding a CBI probe into the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput and hailing the bhoomi-pujan of Ram mandir by prime minister Narendra Modi - both of which went against the party lines.

Parth is son of deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, the nephew of Pawar.

On Wednesday night, members of the Pawar clan met at the NCP supremo's Silver Oak bungalow.

Those present were Pawar, his daughter and Baramati MP Supriya Sule, Ajit Pawar, the deputy chief minister and Baramati MLA besides Patil.

"Ajit Pawar is not at all unhappy...there are no disputes in the family," he said.

Added Patil: "Pawar saheb is the head of NCP and family...he has the right to guide, order, instruct and suggest."

"Everyone has the freedom to express his/her view. If he (Parth) has expressed any view, I have not read it," Patil told reporters on the comments of the 29-year-old Parth, who had lost the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Maval seat.

Asked if the NCP will seek an explanation from Parth, Patil replied in negative.

"We do not give much importance to what he says....he is immature," Pawar said, when asked about his grand-nephew's demand for a CBI probe and the Maha Vikas Aghadi's opposition to it.

Pawar Sr generally never speaks about the family - and this is for the first time he came down against any member of the clan publicly. Even when Ajit Pawar joined ranks with the BJP and became a deputy chief minister under BJP leader and then chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Pawar had not spoken about it on a public platform.

Meanwhile, Fadnavis said: "It is an issue within the family....between grandfather and grandnephew....however, we welcome what he said, that is the CBI demand for the investigations into the Sushant Singh case."

Adding fuel to the fire, former chief minister Narayan Rane's son and BJP MLA Nitesh Rane said: "Parth lambi race ka ghoda gai....don't stop friend."