Pimpri, 2 (PCB)- On Sunday, NCP leader Ajit Pawar, who is seen as increasingly veering towards joining hands with BJP, expressed his happiness about what State NCP president Jayant Patil said.
In conversation with reporters, Jayant Patil had said that in 2024 NCP will have its chief minister in the saddle. When reporters asked Ajit Pawar about his reaction to Patil’s prediction, the Leader of the Opposition said,”I hope his prediction comes true.”
Thus, Ajit Pawar has once again made his intention clear that he wants to become the chief minister of Maharashtra. Ajit Pawar has for long held the Deputy Chief Minister’s post but never got an opportunity to become the chief minister. In recent times, he has started openly speaking about it. During the course of interview with Sakal Group in Chinchwad last month, Ajit Pawar said he was not ready to wait anymore for becoming the chief minister. “Why wait till 2024, even now I am ready to become the chief minister,” he said, triggering speculations in political circles. One of them was whether the BJP at finally made up its mind to make Ajit Pawar the chief minister as is being rumoured for a long time now.
However, first it was Ajit Pawar and then Deputy Chief Minister who scotched rumours about the possibility of Ajit Pawar becoming the chief minister “now.” After his comment caused quite a stir, Ajit Pawar clarified that what he meant was that he was ready to become the chief minister even now if he gets the majority. In his earlier comment, he had skipped the word “majority.”
Subsequently, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnvis, in an interivew to ABP Majha news channel, said, the 2024 assembly elections will be fought by BJP and its alliance partner, the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde, under the leadership of the Chief Minister.
Though the clarifications have landed, discussions about Ajit Pawar’s possible elevation to the chief minister’s post continues across Maharashtra with his supporters even putting up boards proclaiming him to be the future chief minister. Ajit Pawar has neither asked them to pull down the boards nor has spoken a word about it. Meanwhile, political circles say there will be a lot happening on Maharashtra’s political terrain, especially after the Supreme Court verdict in the case relating to the disqualification of 16 MLAs of Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde.
