Sharad Pawar, Ajit Pawar hold secret meeting in Pune

As the Opposition bloc I.N.D.I.A plans to hold its third meeting in Mumbai and the ruling NDA goes aggressive against the Congress and its allies, the Pawar uncle-nephew duo held a secret meeting in Pune sending ripples in Maharashtra’s political circles. 

The meeting between NCP founder Sharad Pawar and his nephew and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was reportedly held at the residence of industrialist Atul Chordia at Koregaon Park in Pune - but what transpired in the meeting is not yet known. 

The meeting has rattled the Sharad Pawar-Supriya Sule-led NCP group’s partners in Maha Vikas Aghadi - Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) headed by Uddhav Thackeray.

While Ajit Pawar maintained silence, Sharad Pawar sought to clarify on the issue. 

"What is wrong with meeting my nephew? If a senior person in a family desires to meet another family member, there should not be any issue with that…I am the seniormost in the family and he is my nephew,” Pawar said in Solapur. 

Pawar, four-time Maharashtra chief minister and three-term Union minister, said that he would never go with the BJP. “As the national president of the NCP, I am making it clear that my party) will not go with the BJP. Any association with the BJP does not fit in NCP's political policy,” he said. 

Around one-and-a-half-month ago, Ajit Pawar rebelled against him and moved out with a large chunk of MLAs to join the ruling NDA and become the Deputy chief minister alongside BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis in the government headed by Shiv Sena’s Eknath Shinde. 

Fadnavis said he has no information about such a meeting. “Hence, I can't add to your knowledge," he told reporters when asked about it.

State NCP President Jayant Patil, who is from the parent group led by Sharad Pawar-Supriya Sule, said that he was not aware of what transpired in the meeting. “It was not a secret meeting,” said Patil.

“I went with Pawar saheb to a common acquaintance and left early. I am not aware of what transpired later," he said.

Patil said his brother had received a notice from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seeking information about some company. “He went to the ED office and submitted all the details he knew. It is wrong to link the ED notice to yesterday's meeting," he said, adding that his position is very clear. 

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut, in a lighter vein, said: “Pawar saheb might have asked Ajit Dada to attend the I.N.D.I.A meeting.”

Former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said that either of the Pawar uncle-nephew duo will have to tell the truth. “Allied partners must get official information about such meetings as it cannot be limited to family issues,” he said.