When Sharad Pawar announced his resignation from the president post of the Nationalist Congress Party, he was seated with his immediate family — wife, daughter, nephew Ajit Pawar and hundreds of NCP workers — as they all assembled to launch the second part of Sharad Pawar’s autobiography — Lok Majhe Sangati. Sharad Pawar’s wife Pratibha Pawar was also seen speaking to Ajit Pawar as the supporters objected to Sharad Pawar’s decision — making it a rare public moment for the very private Pratibha Pawar about whom Sharad Pawar wrote in his book.
It was in front of Pratibha Pawar that Ajit Pawar said Supriya will not speak on the issue of Sharad Pawar’s resignation when workers wanted her to say something. “I am his elder brother and that is why I am suggesting her this,” Ajit said.
Read | Pawar’s decision could be turning point for NCP
Pratibha Pawar played an important role in bringing Ajit Pawar back to the party in 2019 when Ajit Pawar extended support to the BJP and took oath as the deputy chief minister with Devendra Fadnavis being the chief minister.
As Sharad Pawar wrote elaborately on what happened in 2019, he recounted his wife’s role in bringing Ajit Pawar back as Pratibha shares a close bond with Ajit. “Ajit’s brother Shriniwas was asked to maintain dialogue with him….My wife Pratibha and Ajit share a strong bond. Pratibha never gets into political developments, but Ajit’s case was related to the family,” Pawar said in his book.
After meeting Pratibha Pawar, Ajit apologised and that laid the entire episode to rest. On November 23, 2019, when Sharad Pawar was in talks with the Congress and the Shiv Sena to form Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar clandestinely extended support to the BJP. In his book, Sharad Pawar said he got a call in the morning and was told that NCP MLAs went with Ajit Pawar because they believed Sharad Pawar agreed to the move. “Immediately, I called Uddhav Thackeray and told him that whatever Ajit did had no go-ahead from me,” Sharad Pawar wrote.
‘I told Modi in 2019 there would be no alliance’
In his autobiography, Sharad Pawar wrote that when he met PM Modi in 2019, he told him clearly that there could be no political truck between us (BJP and NCP). “But while I was saying this, it has to be noted that there was a section of leaders in the party who wanted ties with the BJP,” Pawar wrote referring to Ajit Pawar’s rebellion.
(With PTI inputs)