Page 11 - Ajit Pawar

Made mistake by fielding my wife against my sister in LS polls: Ajit Pawar

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has said he made a mistake by fielding his wife Sunetra Pawar against his cousin Supriya Sule in the recent Lok Sabha polls. One should not allow politics to enter home, Pawar, who is currently on a statewide 'Jan Samman Yatra', told Marathi news channel Jai Maharashtra. As part of his mass outreach programme ahead of the state assembly polls, the deputy CM has been promoting the government's 'Mukhyamantri Ladki Bahin Yojana', aimed at providing financial assistance of Rs 1,500 per month to women. In the Lok Sabha elections held earlier this year, Sunetra Pawar unsuccessfully contested the election from Baramati seat against sitting NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule, daughter of Ajit Pawar's uncle Sharad Pawar. Sunetra Pawar was later elected to the Rajya Sabha. In July last year, Ajit Pawar and a number of other MLAs joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government, leading to a split in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founded Sharad Pawar. The Electi

Ajit Pawar to kick off NCP's Jan Samman Yatra from Nashik on Aug 8

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar will begin the Jan Samman Yatra, an outreach programme of the ruling NCP ahead of the state assembly election, from Dindori in Nashik district on August 8, his party announced on Monday. Speaking at a press conference, NCP working president Praful Patel said the Ajit Pawar-led party and its allies in the ruling Mahayuti, BJP and Shiv Sena, have to fight the upcoming election together and win. The NCP put up a united front, with the entire top leadership, including Patel, senior leader Chhagan Bhujbal, and cabinet ministers and MLAs, remaining present at the press conference, where the yatra schedule was announced. The NCP leadership has insisted that the Jan Samman Yatra was not limited to constituencies of NCP MLAs. Party leaders will also visit seats held by allies Shiv Sena and BJP, as the party wishes to present a united face of Mahayuti, they said. Patel said Pawar would meet NCP workers to boost their confidence and find time for

Fadnavis taking political vengeance by using ex-cop Waze: Deshmukh

Former Maharashtra home minister and senior NCP (SP) leader Anil Deshmukh on Sunday claimed Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was taking "political vengeance" by levelling allegations against him using sacked police officer Sachin Waze. Talking to reporters here, Deshmukh challenged Fadnavis to make Justice Chandiwal Commission report public, claiming he had been given a clean chit. "Retired Justice Chandiwal conducted an inquiry for 11 months on the allegations against me by former Mumbai commissioner Parambir Singh and dismissed police officer Sachin Waze, who had clearly stated that neither I nor my PA had asked him for money or given him any," the NCP (SP) leader said. Waze on Saturday reiterated bribery allegations against Deshmukh, prompting the opposition to question the "timing" and Fadnavis assuring an inquiry. Deshmukh resigned as home minister in 2021 after Param Bir Singh accused him of setting a target to collect Rs 100 crore a month from bars and restaurants in

Will quit politics if reports of Delhi visit proven right: Ajit Pawar

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who heads the ruling NCP, on Friday said he would quit politics if the veracity of the reports about him visiting New Delhi in disguise to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah before his party forged an alliance with the BJP, was proven. But if the reports are found to be wrong, those who made these allegations against him should quit politics, he challenged the leaders from the opposition parties, as he alleged that efforts were on to defame him. Reports published in a section of the media claimed that during an informal interaction held recently, Pawar himself said that he held some meetings with Amit Shah in the national capital on the alliance between the two parties. During that interaction, he reportedly said, "I used to wear a mask and a cap during air travel while going to Delhi to attend those meetings. I had changed my name also for air travel." Latching on to his reported statements, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the NCP (SP) leaders

Pawar vs Pawar: SC seeks Ajit Pawar's response in NCP faction dispute

Sharad Pawar's NCP faction was granted provisional use of the party name and clock symbol following Ajit Pawar's split from the party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections

Maharashtra govt asks K'taka to release more water from Almatti dam

In view of heavy rainfall in parts of western Maharashtra, the state government has urged Karnataka to release more water from Almatti dam to avoid flooding in Sangli and Kolhapur districts, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said on Thursday. Almatti dam, officially known as Lal Bahadur Shastri dam, is a hydroelectric project on the Krishna river in north Karnataka. Speaking to reporters, he said, "The Maharashtra government has asked Karnataka to increase the water discharge from Almatti dam to three lakh cusec from the current outflow of 2.5 lakh cusec." The water storage of Koyna dam in Maharashtra's Satara district increased by six thousand million cubic feet (TMC) in a very short period, and it is already 75 per cent filled, he said. "It means, we need to discharge water from Koyna dam, which will increase the water levels of Krishna river," he said. Koyna dam is built on the Koyna river and its storage capacity is 105 TMC. The Koyna river is the biggest tributary of the ...

Ajit Pawar announces to go solo in upcoming Maharashtra local body polls

Pawar said that despite having contested Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha together as Mahayuti, every party will contest local body election as per their strengths

'Ajit Pawar's NCP behind BJP's poor show': RSS magazine on Maha LS polls

The magazine said that the BJP's decades-old partnership with the Shiv Sena and its latest faction was 'Hindutva based' and thus 'natural' but that was not the case with the NCP

Ajit Pawar's NCP faces setback as top leaders resign to join Sharad Pawar

NCP Pimpri-Chinchwad Unit Chief Ajit Gavahane and three others from the unit have quit Ajit Pawar's NCP faction to join Sharad Pawar

Maha govt to give 3 LPG cylinders to women, girls with low annual income

He further urged the public of the constituency to elect Mahayuti in the upcoming Assembly elections and insisted them to not to trust any other party

Didn't change parties, corruption allegations never proved: Ajit Pawar

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has appealed to people to support him for development, asserting that he has stuck to his party ever since entering politics and that the allegations of corruption against him were never proved. People are my only party. Whatever I do, their welfare is my top priority. I always think how people will benefit, said the NCP leader in a video message. Pawar's video message, appealing to the people to back him, comes amid speculations of discontent within the ruling Mahayuti alliance, comprising BJP, NCP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, after its poor performance in Lok Sabha polls in the state. In this year's Lok Sabha elections, the Mahayuti bagged just 17 of the state's 48 seats, with the BJP's tally coming down to nine from the 23 (it won in 2019). While the Sena got 9 seats, NCP won only 1. By contrast, the MVA bloc of Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) won 30 seats. Defending the budget he presented last week in the state ...

Delhi Cabinet to begin drafting note for Rs 1,000 monthly aid for women

Delhi govt FY25 Budget aims to provide Rs 1,000 in monthly assistance for eligible women aged above 18. Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh have drafted similar schemes

Mahayuti govt loosens purse strings within prudence to bring back voters

The Mahayuti govt in Maharashtra has treaded a populist path in the FY25 Budget in a bid to woo voters ahead of the Assembly polls but has shown fiscal prudence

Maha Budget: Women to get Rs 1,500 monthly; 3 cylinders for family of 5

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday announced a financial assistance scheme entailing a monthly allowance of Rs 1,500 to eligible women in the age group of 21 to 60 years in the state Budget for 2024-25. Pawar, who holds the finance portfolio, said in his budget speech in the assembly that the scheme, "Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana", will be implemented from July, four months ahead of the state polls which are due in October. An annual budgetary allocation of Rs 46,000 crore will be made for the scheme, he said. Announcing another welfare scheme, the finance minister said an eligible family of five will get three cooking gas cylinders free every year under the 'Mukhyamantri Annapurna Yojana'.

After Maha CM meets Dy CMs, BJP leaders leave for review meet in Delhi

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde held a late night meeting with Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar after which some state BJP leaders left for Delhi for a review meet, sources said on Tuesday. Details of the meeting were not available. It was convened in the backdrop of the ruling Mahayuti's below par performance in the recently-concluded Lok Sabha elections. "CM Shinde held a meeting with Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar at his official residence 'Varsha'. After Pawar left, Shinde and Fadnavis continued the meeting for some time," a source in the BJP said on Tuesday. BJP's central leadership has called a review meeting with state leaders in connection with the party's performance in the Lok Sabha polls. "It is a routine exercise in the BJP to hold such review meetings with state leaders. (BJP leader) Fadnavis offered to resign some days back after the results were out. He had stated that he wished to work for the party full-time till the state assembly elections. This will

Sharad Pawar seeks to meet CM to discuss drought-like situation in Pune

Nationalist Congress Party (SP) head Sharad Pawar has written to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde seeking a meeting to address the drought-like situation in Purandar, Baramati, Indapur and Daund tehsils of Pune district. In the letter dated June 16, which he posted on a micro-blogging site on Monday, Pawar said the state government had undertaken irrigation schemes in the region to mitigate the drought-like situation but problems were found in their implementation when he visited some of these areas recently. During discussions with the public in these visits, villagers also suggested some measures along with demands to solve the problem of agriculture and drinking water, the former Union minister said in the letter. "There is a need to take permanent measures to overcome the traditional drought situation in the above mentioned talukas of Pune district. For this, we request you to organise a meeting in Mumbai under your leadership and in the presence of the two deputy chief

After losing LS elections, Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra enters RS poll fray

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra on Thursday filed nomination papers as the NCP candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections, days after she lost the Lok Sabha polls from Baramati. Incidentally, barring leaders from the NCP, no politician from the Ajit Pawar-led party's allies in the ruling Mahayuti -- the BJP and the Shiv Sena -- was present when Sunetra Pawar filed her nomination at the Vidhan Bhavan in south Mumbai. Senior NCP leaders like Rajya Sabha member Praful Patel, Maharashtra cabinet minister Chhagan Bhujbal, party's state unit president and Lok Sabha MP-elect Sunil Tatkare and legislative assembly deputy speaker Narhari Zirwal were present at the filing of the nomination. Bhujbal said though he was keen on contesting the Rajya Sabha polls, he was not upset with Sunetra Pawar's nomination, which he described as a "collective decision" of the party. In the just-concluded Lok Sabha elections, Sunetra Pawar lost from the Baramati constituency

Oppn takes potshots at Eknath Shinde, Ajit Pawar over ministerial berths

Leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi opposition alliance on Monday took potshots at CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar over their share in the new Union ministry led by PM Narendra Modi. At the swearing in ceremony on Sunday, Prataprao Jadhav of the Shinde-led Shiv Sena was sworn in as MoS with independent charge, while the Ajit Pawar-led NCP declined a minister of state berth, insisting on a cabinet post. Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Sanjay Raut on Monday said the minuscule representation to the two parties in the Modi cabinet has proved that the BJP has shown them their place. This is what you get when you decide to be someone's slaves, Raut told reporters. Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar said if the Ajit Pawar-led NCP doesn't accept the MoS post, they should forget any cabinet berth in future. Ajit Pawar must have realised albeit late that the BJP has a use and throw policy for its allies, said Wadettiwar, the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly. Baramati Lok

Not surprised that Ajit Pawar-led NCP didn't get berth in new cabinet: Sule

NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) MP Supriya Sule on Monday said she was not surprised that the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) did not get a berth in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new cabinet. Speaking to reporters here on the 25th foundation day of the NCP, founded by her father, the Baramati MP said as the NDA holds its first cabinet meeting, it should grant full loan waiver for farmers.. "During the UPA regime, the NCP worked as an ally in the Manmohan Singh government. Manmohan ji showed trust and love towards Pawar saheb, and he got two and a half cabinet berths although the party had only eight or nine MPs at the time," she said. The Congress did not think about numbers and respected the party as its ally, she said. "In the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government also, everyone treated each other with respect. We did not stick to any formula. Our relationship was based on mutual respect and merit," Sule said. The MP said she was not surprised that the NCP did not get a

Ajit Pawar's NCP faction excluded from Cabinet in Modi government 3.0

Ajit Pawar's NCP was offered one MoS Independent Charge post by the BJP government, which party leader Praful Patel called a 'demotion'