My Relationship With Ajit Will Not Change: Supriya Sule After NCP Split

NCP Working President Supriya Sule on Sunday said that her relationship with Ajit Pawar will not change despite him joining hands with the NDA.

"Whatever happened is painful. Sharad Pawar treated everyone like a family and he is our senior leader, I don't think speaking after his statement will be correct. His response was We are living in a democratic country where everyone has the right to speak for themselves and keep their points.

Ajit Pawar's move is his own decision and point of view. My relationship with Ajit Pawar will not change, he will always remain my elder brother. We will rebuild the party," ANI quoted her as saying.

Supriya Sule met party workers after Ajit Pawar, along with 8 MLAs, joined the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra cabinet.

The NCP MP then said that the party will respect all its MLAs. "Thoughts and hate are different things, NCP never had hate inside the party or any misunderstanding, Ajit Pawar had different thoughts and we have different ones. We respect our all MLAs. I always speak with party workers & leaders, I spoke with them yesterday also and tomorrow also I will speak with them (Party leaders & members)," Sule said.

She further said that the party will analyse the reasons behind the crisis that unfolded today. "I would be happy if the rebels return back. Let's see how things unfold in the future. Sharad Pawar's response is inspiring. Time will decide if we need to put up a huge struggle ahead of us. NCP is our family. I've been working in it for more than two decades and will be with it (NCP) always," Sule added.

Earlier, Sharad Pawar said he would build new leadership in the party and asserted he gets more energy to work when such situations come up. He also asserted he was the face of the party for the future as well.

The party founded by Pawar in 1999 suffered a vertical split during the day after his nephew Ajit Pawar broke ranks and joined the Eknath Shinde government as deputy chief minister.