Ajit emerges from uncle's shadow in a bitter attack

For anyone parsing Ajit Pawar's hour-long speech at his show of strength at MET Institute of Management, Bandra, on Wednesday, three things stood out.

- Surendra P Gangan

One, the 63-year-old has finally cut loose of his uncle and emerged as a leader in his own right; two, NCP, under his leadership, will be an unalloyed ally of the BJP and will be a part of the NDA; and three, in giving notice to his uncle, asking him to retire outright, Ajit Pawar also gave notice of his ambitions to be Maharashtra chief minister in the foreseeable future to all other claimants for the job.

While his statement of intent about becoming the CM in the future did not surprise those who have watched his political trajectory, his outrightly personal and bitter attack on his uncle Sharad Pawar did come as a surprise. In one go, he projected his uncle as a leader well past his prime and also pointed to his alleged duplicity saying he had tried to ally with the BJP several times in the past while making him the scapegoat for the alliance with Devendra Fadnavis in 2019.

In the same vein, he accused Pawar of favouring his daughter Supriya Sule over him even though he may have had a greater claim to be Pawar's political heir. "When I was first inducted in the cabinet in 1999, I was given a minor ministry (independent charge of Krishna Valley Corporation); in 2004 when the NCP had the highest number of seats and was in a position to take charge, he chose to give the chief ministership to the Congress rather than to me...All because I am not born to him," he said, listing out a roll call of grievances.