Mumbai: The NCP chief Ajit Pawar looks worried about his party’s prospectus in parts of Western Maharashtra, if his statement on meeting with industrialist Gautam Adani five years ago is considered as an indicator. However, the very next day Ajit Pawar clarified that his statement about Adani’s involvement in political talks between BJP and NCP was misconstrued. He emphasized that Adani had no connection to the incident. Nevertheless, this has sparked opposition outrage.
There are various reasons why Ajit Pawar disclosed this secret close door meeting on the eve of election. According to sources, the prime motive of this revelation is to create confusion about Sharad Pawar among the voters. The NCP led by Ajit Pawar is likely to face tough times in the parts of Pune, Kolhapur and Sangli district. Against this backdrop he has made an attempt to set a narrative that if time comes even Sharad Pawar can also join hands with the BJP.
The sources further claimed that Ajit was also trying to create rift between Pawar senior and Uddhav Thackeray. The Shiv Sena (UBT) is opposing Dharavi redevelopment, a project by Gautam Adani. So, with the help of a five-year-old meeting, Ajit made all efforts to generate confusion in the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and especially between Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar.
This has sparked opposition outrage as Ajit pointed out that Amit Shah, Gautam Adani, Praful Patel, Fadnavis, and Pawar Sr all were present at that meeting. Ajit Pawar further disclosed that the discussions before his early morning swearing-in as deputy chief minister in 2019 took place at a “businessman’s house” in Delhi. It has been five years. Everyone knows where the meeting happened. Everything was decided.
Ajit’s revelations prompted sharp reactions from Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT), who accused BJP of using Adani’s influence to broker political alliances. The BJP has remained silent on Ajit’s latest remarks, but former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has previously alleged multiple meetings between Sharad Pawar and BJP leaders between 2017 and 2019.
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