Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who heads the Nationalist Congress Party, has said that helming the NCP away from the shadows of his uncle and founder Sharad Pawar after the split is a huge responsibility.
In an interview with PTI during his Jan Sanman Yatra, Pawar said on Thursday that the seat-sharing talks among the ruling Mahayuti partners – NCP, Shiv Sena and BJP – for the assembly polls are proceeding positively.
Ajit Pawar and his loyalist MLAs broke away from NCP in July last year to align with the ruling alliance. He later got the party name and its clock symbol. Party founder Sharad Pawar, who now heads NCP (SP), is a part of the opposition bloc Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), also comprising Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress.
“This is the biggest responsibility that I have ever received. Till now, (Sharad) Pawar saheb was our leader and our chief. When I joined politics in 1991, there was no NCP by then.
“When I was in Congress, there were several leaders. Therefore, there was no question about it (extra responsibility). When NCP was formed in 1999... I was given responsibilities only after 2004. Now the final responsibility lies with me because I am the NCP chief.”
Speaking about seat sharing for the upcoming state polls, Pawar said he had spoken to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who leads the Shiv Sena, and Deputy CM and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis two to three times and the talks were positive.
Everyone wants to contest from maximum seats and a solution will be found, he said.
“However, we need to hold talks with our other alliance partners as well... Let's wait for a few days,” said the deputy CM.
On being asked if the polls could be held in November, he said there was such a buzz but added the schedule was the prerogative of the Election Commission and "not in our hands”.
Ajit Pawar also batted for an all-party meeting to discuss the demand of the Maratha community for reservation in education and government jobs, saying the opposition parties cannot be neglected since they also represent the people.
“Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange wants reservation under the OBC segment. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had called an all-party meeting to discuss the quota issue but the opposition stayed away. I don't know if the boycott was deliberate. It has been decided to seek their (opposition) time again," he said.
Hailing the Mukhyamnatri Ladki Bahin Yojana, under which women get a monthly aid of Rs 1,500 if their annual family income is less than Rs 2.5 lakh, Pawar said it would be launched on August 17 at an event in Balewadi here with beneficiaries getting money for July and August. CM Shinde and Deputy CM Fadnavis will attend the event.
It is a transparent scheme in which money is transferred to accounts linked to the beneficiary's Aadhaar, leaving no room for any illegality, Pawar added.
Slamming the opposition for calling it an election gimmick that would burden the exchequer, Pawar said he had presented 10 budgets and knew about finances.
On the issue of raising resources, Pawar said Maharashtra accounts for 16 per cent of the country's GST collections, with 50 per cent coming back to the state.
Moreover, the state also has revenue coming in from excise and other taxes, Pawar pointed out.
Pawar said his Jan Sanman Yatra was getting a good response from women, adding that schemes meant from them as well as farmers and youth were well received since beneficiaries include the poor and from all castes.
Asked whether the mistake he alluded to in connection with the Baramati Lok Sabha fight between Supriya Sule and his wife Sunetra was political or personal, he said, "There is nothing deliberate about speaking about a mistake. I am the master of my mind. I speak my mind. I am a straightforward person."
He refused to speak on the split in the Pawar household (due to the NCP's break up) and asserted such matters need not be discussed in an open forum just because he was a public figure.
"I am a public figure but I would not like to speak about my family. I will speak about my family within the family," he said.
On a question about chances of reuniting with Sharad Pawar, the deputy CM said, "I will only speak about my work and vision for Maharashtra. We will tell people to give us a chance again so that we can bring more funds for the state. The opposition is always negative."
Asked to compare bitter rivals CM Shinde and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former CM Uddhav Thackeray, Pawar said, "Everyone is different in behaviour and temperament. But everyone works for Maharashtra's interests and development. Shinde has worked with Thackeray for several years. What happened between them only Shinde can say."
On former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh's claims about moves to get Fadnavis and some other leaders arrested during MVA rule, Pawar said he knew nothing about the matter.
“I have never heard anything about this. I do not do any negative work. Everyone knows me. I do what I feel right,” the NCP chief asserted.