Ajit will never become Maharashtra CM, says Sharad Pawar

Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar on Thursday said his nephew and rebel NCP faction leader Ajit Pawar will never become the chief minister of Maharashtra.

Speaking to reporters in Akola, he also said that the Bharatiya Janata Party does not rule in 70 percent of states in the country and it would lose power in Maharashtra too.

Asked about speculation that Ajit Pawar, who became deputy chief minister in July after breaking up the NCP and joining the Shiv Sena-BJP government, would soon get the top post in the state, Pawar senior said, "Ajit Pawar becoming chief minister will remain only a dream."

He expressed confidence that the Maha Vikas Aghadi of the Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray,  NCP (Sharad Pawar group) and Congress will come to power in Maharashtra after the 2024 elections.

The BJP came to power in some states by breaking up other political parties but it is not in power in 70 per cent of states, the veteran politician said.

On Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi leader Prakash Ambedkar joining the Opposition's INDIA grouping, Pawar said he was positive about it.

His former colleague Chhagan Bhujbal had once proposed that Supriya Sule be made NCP president, but Bhujbal himself has now switched over to the other side, he noted.

He also said that if BJP leader Pankaja Munde, said to have been sidelined in the saffron party, forms her own outfit, the move would get good response.