I pay attention only to what CM, Fadnavis say: Ajit Pawar a day after BJP workers show him black flags

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar at the launch of ‘Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin’ scheme at Balewadi area, in Pune district on August 17. File pic

Maharashtra deputy chief minister (CM) Ajit Pawar on Monday said that he is not bothered about his criticism by others and is only concerned about what the key leaders of the ruling Mahayuti alliance say.

Speaking to reporters during his Jan Sanman Yatra, Pawar said, "I don't have anything to do with what other people say. I pay attention to the key people, CM Eknath Shinde of Shiv Sena and Chandrashekhar Bawankule and Devendra Fadnavis of BJP."

His remarks came a day after a group of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers, led by the party's Junnar chief Asha Buchake, waved black flags at his convoy. Buchake had claimed that NCP is trying to promote its candidate in the Junnar seat for the upcoming Assembly polls.

"They are trying to strangle us. Therefore, we have adopted an aggressive stand," Buchake told reporters after her party workers raised slogans against Pawar. "If we are part of Mahayuti, then why were pictures of CM Shinde and deputy CM Fadnavis not put up in the meeting hall," she added.

An official meeting was organised on tourism development in Junnar on August 18 for which BJP was not invited, she claimed.

Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) had demanded Fadnavis to clarify whether he approves of the behaviour of his BJP workers. Fadnavis is the state home minister and a key leader in Maharashtra BJP.

When Pawar was asked if he will get a rakhi tied on his wrist from estranged cousin Supriya Sule on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan, he said, "I will do it if she is in Mumbai today."

Last week, Pawar expressed his regret for making his wife Sunetra contest against Sule in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. Saying that he made a mistake, Pawar said, "I love all my sisters. No one should allow politics to enter homes. I made a mistake in fielding Sunetra against my sister. This should not have happened. But the parliamentary board of NCP took the decision which I followed. Now I feel it was wrong."

Sule won the election against Sunetra.

(With PTI inputs)