Ajit pawar says he was a fool to think he was popular in the NCP.
It was 10.30 am on Tuesday. The Devgiri bungalow at Malabar Hill was enveloped in silence. Its gates were wide open, but the master of the house, NCP leader Ajit Pawar, was nowhere to be seen. The caretaker said he had no idea where he was.
The silence of the morning made way for an action-packed evening. Ajit Pawar was seen holding a durbar at the bungalow — endlessly talking to a stream of visitors, repetitively pledging his commitment to the NCP, and his uncle, party president Sharad Pawar. He was calm on the surface. But inside, anger rippled. The party he loves, has ditched him by choosing Chhagan Bhujbal as its deputy chief ministerial candidate. His frustration was evident as he countered the pain with sarcasm:
Why you lost out in the race for the deputy CM post?
I joined the race of because the elected members of the party wanted me to. Maybe, I misread my popularity among them. If the central observers are to be believed, Bhujbal had an absolute majority. I had nought.
You accept that?
How can I deny it? After all Bhujbal is the most experienced and the most popular leader in the party. He single-handedly fought the Shiv Sena and defeated it. I have no such glorious feat.
All 62 NCP MLAs had insisted on voting. Yet, there was no voting. Why?
I think they (the top brass) knew in advance Bhujbal’s overwhelming majority. So, they felt there was no need for voting. I was a fool to think I had support of the MLAs. It is only the party workers who support me.
Do you still dream of becoming the chief minister?
A) I am into politics. I will work with renewed determination to achieve my goal. The road ahead is long. The polls of 2009 is not the end.
Do you see it is a handiwork of a section within the party to sideline you?
I have never publicly claimed party leadership. I have moulded myself as a party worker. Even now I am ready to serve as an ordinary worker. If the higher-ups think I deserve a cabinet berth, it is fine. If not, it is still alright. I won’t complain.
Will you accept your cousin, Supriya Sule, as the next NCP boss or the CM?
Why not? If there is a consensus within the party, then I will have no problems working under Supriya, or for that matter anybody else appointed the party leader.
Your reaction to rumours about you leaving the NCP with 47 MLAs?
It is baseless. There is no question of me leaving the NCP.
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