BJP will belittle importance of Ajit Pawar: NCP

Amid the round-the-clock political developments in Maharashtra, the Sharad Pawar-Supriya Sule-led NCP group on Thursday said that the BJP would belittle the importance of Ajit Pawar, who has rebelled against his uncle and joined the government as the deputy chief minister.

The comments of the NCP comes in the wake of the junior Pawar, popularly known as Ajit Dada, travelling to New Delhi to hold talks with the BJP leadership over the issue of distribution of portfolios and Cabinet expansion.

“It is surprising that a tall leader like Ajit Dada had to travel to Delhi to meet the BJP top brass amidst the political deadlock over portfolio allocation. Previously, people would queue up at his own office for work,” NCP chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapase said on Thursday.

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In reference to the BJP's reluctance to assign the finance and planning portfolio to Ajit Pawar, Tapase commented, "The BJP's reluctance to give the finance and planning portfolio to Ajit Pawar seems like an attempt to belittle his importance.”

Turning his attention to the discontent within the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena camp, Tapase noted, “The inclusion of nine NCP legislators in the government has left the Shinde camp extremely unhappy. They insist that important portfolios should not be given to the NCP faction that has recently joined the government.”

“Now, Shinde, who once accused Ajit Pawar of not allocating resources to the Shiv Sena MLAs, cannot take a high moral ground after the BJP has inducted team Ajit Pawar into the ministry,” Tapase added.

"The government seems to be solely preoccupied with how to please and pacify the MLAs in the BJP, the Shinde-camp, and now those supporting Ajit Pawar,” he said.

Tapase anticipated challenges for Shinde during the ensuing monsoon session in controlling unrest among his MLAs and effectively coordinating and managing the various factions within the government.