Pune : Ajit Pawar eyes for CM post in 2024

Pune: Senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar has stated his aspirations to become the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, not just in 2024, but even now. In an interview with a Marathi media house, he responded to a question on whether he was aiming for the top post in the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly election. This statement comes amidst rumours of a rift in the NCP, and speculation surrounding Ajit Pawar’s future political move.

Ajit Pawar also addressed the NCP’s alliance with Shiv Sena to form the government in Maharashtra in 2019. He said that the NCP and Congress broke away from secularism by allying with Shiv Sena, which is a hindutva party. This has raised questions about the stability of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in the state.

Last year, Maharashtra faced a period of political instability when the Eknath Shinde-led rebellion brought down the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in the state. Shinde’s Sena then joined hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form a government in the state. Recently, there has been speculation that Ajit Pawar and a group of MLAs loyal to him might align with the BJP. However, Ajit Pawar has dismissed all such reports, stating that there is no truth in reports about any rift in the NCP and him joining hands with the BJP.

In the midst of this political turmoil, Ajit Pawar skipped an NCP meeting in Mumbai, citing prior commitments. He said that he was not able to attend the NCP meeting as he has to remain present for some other programmes happening at the same time. The NCP clarified that Ajit Pawar’s inability to attend the party meeting does not mean he is planning to quit the organisation.