‘Didn’t Insult or Stab Anyone in the Back’: Ajit Pawar Reiterates He Joined Maharashtra’s BJP-Sena Government for Development

Ajit Pawar joined Maharashtra politics in 1991 when he contested the Lok Sabha election for the first time and won. (PTI File)

After getting the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) name and symbol, Ajit Pawar, national president of the party, posted a 10-point letter to the people of Maharashtra to clear his position that he joined hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena government in the state only for development, and “did not insult or back-stab anyone”.

Deputy Chief Minister Pawar, who is known for his aggressive style of work and good grip over administration, has been at the centre of criticism for taking a stand different from that of NCP founder Sharad Pawar and splitting the party. Pawar has earlier, too, explained that he had not betrayed Sharad Pawar, rather he followed his orders every time, including for the morning swearing-in in 2019. With these 10 points, Pawar again justified his decision to join Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government.

Ajit Pawar joined Maharashtra politics in 1991 when he contested the Lok Sabha election for the first time and won. Pawar said that there was “enough discussion over who brought him into politics, who made him the minister and who gave him opportunities”. “But I got the opportunity to enter politics accidentally. There was an opportunity for a young leader, hence I was given this opportunity by the family. I sacrificed my personal responsibilities and focused on work related to people. For the past 30 years, I have been doing this, as just getting an opportunity is not enough, you need to work tirelessly to make the best use of that opportunity for people,” said Pawar.

In the same letter, Pawar wrote: “From day one of my political career, I have always kept focus on developmental issues. Today also, I am doing the same and the same will be followed in the future. I have seen the pace of work when you have power and have also seen the pace of work, when you are in the opposition. If you want to work for people at that pace, you need to have the help of the power (government) to do the developmental work…”

He further wrote, “I have not compromised on any ideology or with the vision of development. The decision I took was with the purpose of speeding up development. While doing so, neither did I back-stab nor did I insult anyone.”

“The way development is taking place under the able leadership of PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah is remarkable. I personally liked their qualities of strong leadership and right decision-making, which were similar to my working style. I knew this would make it easy to implement my ideas and plans for development of Maharashtra, hence I decided to join hands with them,” Pawar said.

He also stated that nobody from his party will personally criticise anyone and that he will work hard to make a blueprint for development of the state. Pawar also made an appeal to the people of the state to join him in this journey of development by supporting his vision.