Ajit Pawar : “I never left the party. I was with the NCP, I am with the NCP and will remain with the NCP”

Nationalist
Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar, who rebelled against his uncle Sharad
Pawar last week, on Wednesday said he had never left the party.

“I never
left the party. I was with the NCP, I am with the NCP and will remain with the
NCP. Media has misreported about me in the last few days and I will react to it
at an appropriate time,” Ajit Pawar said ahead of the oath by legislators in
the assembly.

Sharad
Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule welcomed her cousin Ajit Pawar with a warm hug
ahead of Wednesday’s session.

Ajit Pawar
had joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Devendra Fadnavis to form a
government in the state. Fadnavis was sworn in as chief minister and Ajit Pawar
as his deputy on Saturday.

Both
Fadnavis and Pawar resigned on Tuesday evening, hours after the Supreme Court
ordered that a floor test be conducted on Wednesday.

Ajit Pawar,
60, had said that he allied with BJP “for the sake of farmers”. Over the four
days, Sharad Pawar had sent senior leaders such as Chhagan Bhujbal, Jayant
Patil, Dilip Walse-Patil and Sunil Tatkare to talk to his nephew and bring him
back to the NCP fold.

The claims
were rejected by the NCP leadership. On Monday evening, the three parties held
a show of strength at a Mumbai hotel and claimed that they had the support of
162 MLAs.