Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly Ajit Pawar.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Stating that the rebel Shiv Sena faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had no contribution in building the Sena founded by the late Bal Thackeray, Maharashtra Leader of Opposition and senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar on Monday exhorted Shiv Sainiks to “take revenge” on the “traitors” who had deposed former CM Uddhav Thackeray and toppled the tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.
“The ones [40 rebel Sena MLAs] who have left Uddhav Thackeray’s side have played no role in the building of the Shiv Sena. They got elected only because Bal Thackeray had given them tickets. We have seen how Bal Thackeray helped make ordinary people from the streets MLAs and MPs…later, these people betrayed Uddhav Thackeray who was forced to unceremoniously vacate the Chief Minister’s post,” he, alluding to Mr. Shinde’s revolt in June last year.
Mr. Pawar was addressing a rally ahead of the February 26 byelection in Chinchwad (in Pune district) in support of the NCP (MVA) candidate Nana Kate, who is pitted against Ashwini Jagtap, wife of the late Laxman Jagtap. Ms. Jagtap is the nominee of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)- Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena coalition.
The Kasba Peth and Chinchwad byelections have been necessitated following the recent demise of sitting BJP MLAs Mukta Tilak and Mr. Jagtap.
Mr. Pawar was flanked by Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Aaditya Thackeray and State Congress chief Nana Patole during the campaign.
In an unusually aggressive speech, Mr. Pawar hit out at the rebel Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena faction led by Mr. Shinde, stating that the people had already shown them their places in the recently concluded Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC) polls where Mr. Shinde’s faction and the BJP had won just one of five seats.
“These traitors [Shinde faction] betrayed Mr. Thackeray and formed the government by deceit. The Shiv Sena during Bal Thackeray’s time too witnessed rebellions, but each time, the rebels lost when they contested polls. When Balasaheb has formally anointed Uddhav Thackeray as his successor, then what is the basis for your revolt?” Mr. Pawar asked, urging Shiv Sainiks to take revenge on the Shinde faction for betraying Mr. Uddhav Thackeray.
Delicate alliance
The NCP leader’s speech, which lauded Mr. Uddhav Thackeray’s tenure as the former CM and sympathised with the Thackeray faction in the wake of Mr. Shinde’s rebellion, was not without significance.
Initially, the Sena (UBT) had desired the Chinchwad seat be allotted to them in the MVA seat-sharing arrangement, as Mr. Uddhav Thackeray had already conceded the Konkan MLC seat to the NCP in the MLC polls despite having a winning candidate of their own.
However, the announcement of Mr. Kate — the NCP and MVA’s candidate — has been fraught with potential cracks within the MVA as Thackeray faction leader Rahul Kalate filed his nomination as an independent, paving the way for a triangular fight between Mr. Kate, Ms. Jagtap and himself.
The Thackeray faction, however, has snubbed Mr. Kalate and assured the NCP and Mr. Pawar of their full support in Chinchwad. Mr. Pawar is leaving no stone unturned to wrest Chinchwad back from the BJP — given that the late Mr. Jagtap was once his close aide before switching over to the saffron party.
Mr. Kalate had harboured high hopes of being picked as the MVA’s candidate on strength of his political track-record. He had given a tough fight to the late Mr. Jagtap in the 2019 Assembly election and garnered 1.12 lakh votes.
Taking jibes at Mr. Kalate, Mr. Pawar remarked that he had “puffed himself up” to believe that he would retain the same number of votes that he had garnered in 2019.
“Despite trying to make him [Rahul Kalate] withdraw his nomination, he failed to see sense. He should realise that the votes he managed to win in 2019 were not due to his skill but that he had the support of the NCP, the Shiv Sena and the people of Chinchwad behind him…he has not grown so big as to stand bigger than any party,” he said.
