Ajit Pawar Meets Uncle Sharad Pawar With Key Aides, Second Meeting In 24 Hours

Amid the tussle for the control of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), rebel leader Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and his loyalists met Sharad Pawar for the second consecutive day.

After meeting Sharad Pawar, the rebel camp requested him to keep the Nationalist Congress Party united.

NCP's Rajya Sabha member Praful Patel, who belongs to the Ajit Pawar camp said "Today, Ajit Pawar, Sunil Tatkare and I met Sharad Pawar at YB Chavan Centre. We again requested him to keep NCP united, and he listened to us but did not say anything on it."

Sunday's meeting between Sharad Pawar and the Ajit Pawar camp was the first one after he rebelled against his uncle and joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government on July 2.

Besides Ajit Pawar, ministers Hasan Mushrif, Chhagan Bhujbal, Aditi Tatkare, and Dilip Walse Patil met the Pawar senior at the Y B Chavan Centre in south Mumbai.

"We requested him (Sharad Pawar) to keep the NCP united. We also asked him to think about our request over the next some days and guide us. He listened to us quietly but said nothing," Patel said on Sunday.

He said the ministers of Ajit Pawar camp did not take Sharad Pawar's prior appointment but came to the Chavan centre directly after they came to know that he was present there.

Commenting on the meeting, BJP's Mumbai unit president Ashish Shelar said, "The Ajit Pawar faction still considers Sharad Pawar as their leader. There is nothing wrong in meeting a senior leader".

Notably, Ajit Pawar on Friday visited Silver Oak, the residence of the NCP founder, to meet the latter's wife Pratibha Pawar after she underwent surgery at a hospital here.

On July 2, Ajit Pawar split NCP to join the Shinde-Fadnavis government and took oath as deputy CM and ministers, respectively.

On Friday, Ajit Pawar was allotted a key Finance portfolio while his camp managed to bag Cooperative and Agriculture ministries, which were represented by BJP and Shiv Sena headed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde earlier.