Uddhav was warned about rebellion: Ajit Pawar

Seven months after the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government collapsed, Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar said that the Shiv Sena President was warned about a rebellion brewing up in the saffron party.

Pawar, the nephew of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, was the then Deputy Chief Minister, and he called the shots on many issues.

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The Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress had forged the Maha Vikas Aghadi in November 2019 and kept the BJP out of power, only to be toppled two-and-a-half years later by senior Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde, who is now the Chief Minister.

“Two to three times, we got the information and informed him…Pawar saheb had told Uddhav ji about the rebellion brewing up,” Ajit Pawar said.

According to him, Thackeray said that he had faith in his MLAs and it would be sorted out. “He never realised this would happen, they would not take this step,” he said.

“In June, when he saw the hustle-bustle, during my meetings with Uddhav ji, I told him, but he said that he would call Shinde ji and things would be okay,” said Pawar.

Talking about the NCP, he said that the biggest mistake was not to take the Chief Minister’s chair after the 2004 polls. “Anyone could have been the Chief Minister…whether it was (late) R R Patil or Chhagan Bhujbal,” he said.