Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar made headlines on Thursday with a provocative statement during the release of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s biography, Yodha Karmayogi – Eknath Sambhaji Shinde. Speaking at the event, Pawar suggested that had the BJP and Shiv Sena offered him the position of Chief Minister, he would have been able to bring the entire Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) with him.
Pawar asserted his seniority in Maharashtra politics compared to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. “Former Chief Minister Fadnavis first became an MLA in 1999, and Shinde in 2004, while I entered the Legislative Assembly in 1990,” Pawar stated, emphasizing his longer political tenure. He quipped that if the BJP had approached him similarly to how they had with Shinde, he would have mobilized the NCP to join the BJP-Shiv Sena coalition. His remark was met with laughter from the audience, including Fadnavis, Shinde, and Pawar himself.
After the laughter subsided, Pawar noted with a touch of seriousness, “Friends, it is a joke, let it be. Whatever happens in life is written in fate. We should keep doing our work.”
During the same event, Fadnavis highlighted the unique political trajectory shared by both himself and Pawar. He noted that both had served as Chief Minister, Leader of Opposition, and Deputy Chief Minister within the same assembly term from 2019 to 2024. Meanwhile, Shinde expressed confidence that his government would retain power in the upcoming assembly elections, citing its focus on development and welfare schemes over the past two years.
