Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar may have announced his inclination to retain its alliance with the Congress for next year’s polls, but NCP leaders close to deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar are going all out to push the latter for the CM’s seat, which is currently held by the Congress.
Senior NCP leader and labour minister Hasan Mushrif has gone one step ahead and compared Ajit Pawar with Gujarat CM Narendra Modi, claiming that the DCM would perform better than Mr Modi, if he were made the CM.
At a public function held in Kolhapur on Saturday, Mr Mushrif said that the deputy CM was more efficient than Mr Modi.
“If made chief minister, Ajit Pawar will prove to be better than the Gujarat chief minister because he has a vision for development and is very hardworking,” he said.
He, however, added that his words should not be taken seriously. Interestingly, Ajit Pawar, who was also present at the function as the chief guest, avoided to comment on the statement.
According to sources, it is an open fact that the nephew of NCP chief Sharad Pawar always wanted to become CM of Maharashtra.
Leaders close to him applaud his abilities and consider him as a prospective candidate for the CM’s seat. However, now they are openly taking a stand, the source said.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar had announced that the alliance with the Congress would continue for the upcoming elections. The party had also started preparations for the same.
However, political observers believe that Mr Mushrif’s comments might upset the Congress and even the NCP chief, which probably compelled Ajit Pawar to keep mum on the matter.