Maharashtra politics: Sharad Pawar forced his decision on us, says Praful Patel

Rajya Sabha member Praful Patel on Friday said the NCP had not broken up and reiterated that Ajit Pawar was unanimously appointed as party president by its legislature and organisational wings on June 30 ldquoImmediately after the appointment Ajit conveyed to Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar that I have been appointed as national working presidentrdquo Patel saidFlaw in structureThe veteran NCP leader said the organisational structure of the party was completely ldquoflawedrdquo and while speaking to the Indian Express IE he blamed the decisions Sharad Pawar took after his brief resignation for the revoltldquoThere are two main things that led to this rebellion decisionhellip One Sharad Pawar has himself in the past not been shy of allying with the BJPhellip Two his daughter has become the fulcrum of all his actions and he has foisted his decision on everyonerdquo he told the IEOn the 25th anniversary of the NCP on June 10 Sharad Pawar made his daughter Sule and Patel the working presidents of the party Patel reportedly said the decision forced on members put the partyrsquos future at stakeForced decisionldquoNCP once shared power equally with the Congress when their coalition was in power then it allied with Shiv Sena toohellip but at 82 when Sharad Pawar chose to ignore Ajit Pawar who is very popular in the party in favour of his daughterhellip it became very confusingrdquo he addedOn allegations that the rebel MLAs joined the NDA government in the state to seek shelter from investigation by the central agencies Patel said ldquoSharad Pawar has flirted with BJP at least thrice since 2014hellip and in 2019 after elections he decided to ally with Shiv Senahellip he could have remained as a principled Opposition but he chose to ally with Congress and Shiv SenahellipldquoED is the last reasonhellip These ED cases do not concern the party workershellip they only expect their work to be done and that can happen when you are in powerrdquo he added Ajit along with Mushrif Bhujbal and Sunil Tatkare are facing corruption charges and are investigated by the ED and AntiCorruption BureaulsquoAge doesnrsquot matter Sharad Pawar an inspirationrsquoNCP founder Sharad Pawarrsquos fight against the revolt in his party at this age is inspiring Shiv Sena UBT leader Sanjay Raut said on FridayPawar on Thursday asserted that he was the president of the NCP and hit back at nephew and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawarrsquos retirement jibe saying he will work more effectively ldquowhether 82 or 92rdquoSanjay Raut PicAshish Raje and Sharad Pawar PicAtul KambleldquoThis is what inspires us about him Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray was 8486 years old We would take inspiration from him What is age Mahatma Gandhi was old but he still fought against the Britishrdquo Raut told reportersThe partyrsquos official Twitter account said the 82yearold warrior was back in the field and he will embark on a statewide tour on Saturday starting from Nashikrsquos Yeola the constituency of party leader Chhagan BhujbalAt an event when asked about this Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis said some people in the party NCP faction owing allegiance to Sharad Pawar are harping on Pawarrsquos age to garner sympathyAmid buzz of MNSSena UBT tieup Raj meets ShindeEknath Shinde and Raj ThackerayAmid major developments in the state politics MNS president Raj Thackeray met Chief Minister Eknath Shinde at the latterrsquos official residence Varsha on Friday In a tweet Shinde said they discussed farm loans in Nashik district the issues of local residents in the redevelopment of BDD chawls in Mumbai and reduction of house prices by state agency CIDCO Satisfactory solutions would be found to all these issues at the earliest he added The meeting came amid a buzz that the MNS and the Shiv Sena UBT led by Rajrsquos estranged cousin Uddhav Thackeray may join hands Both Sena UBT and MNS have denied any such moveslsquoItrsquos so crowded now ministerial aspirants sadrsquoUnion minister Nitin Gadkari File PicSatej ShindeIn an apparent comment on the current political situation in Maharashtra Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday said those who were aspiring to become ministers are now sad as the field has got ldquocrowdedrdquo and they do not know what to do with their ldquostitched suitsrdquo ldquoIf a person accepts that I have received more than what I deserved then that person can be happy and contentrdquo the Union Road Transport and Highways minister said Otherwise corporators are unhappy that they did not become MLAs MLAs are unhappy because they did not become ministers and ministers remain discontented because they did not get a good ministry Gadkari said ldquoand now those who were going to become ministers are unhappy thinking whether their turn would ever come so much crowded it has becomerdquo he said drawing laughter from the audiencelsquoBJPrsquos doors are always openrsquoUnion minister Raosaheb Danve on Friday said BJPrsquos doors were open for those who have faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modirsquos leadership on queries about the saffron party joining hands with its political rival ldquoOur stand is clearmdashthose have faith in the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi can join us or become our alliesrdquo he said at an event in Aurangabad If they are ready to follow the formula decided to run the government they can join the BJPled NDA Danve added