Nationalist Congress Party's senior leader Ajit Pawar on Sunday met some party leaders and MLAs at his official residence in Mumbai. However, NCP president Sharad Pawar, who was in Pune, said he was unaware of the meet, but added that Ajit Pawar, as leader of opposition (LoP) in the Maharashtra Assembly, can call a meeting of legislators. The meeting assumes significance in the wake of Ajit Pawar recently saying he was not keen on continuing as the LoP and wanted to work in the party organisation. Senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal and party's working president Supriya Sule were among the leaders present at the meeting held at Ajit Pawar's official residence 'Devgiri', while state party president Jayant Patil was not present. Some MLAs were also present in the meeting. The agenda of the meet was not known. Meanwhile, Sharad Pawar told reporters in Pune that he was unaware of the meeting in Mumbai. 'On July 6, I have called a meeting of senior leaders and decisions related to the
Pawar asked why in 2019, Devendra Fadnavis took oath discreetly in the early morning when he was sure about our support
The Union government should first introduce reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state Legislative Assemblies before talking about the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said here on Thursday. Holding a press conference, Pawar also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had become restless after the Opposition parties' meeting in Patna. Next meeting will take place at Bengaluru on July 13-14, he informed. On the UCC debate, he said the NCP will make its stand clear after assessing the suggestions and demands of various communities. But before that, reservation should be given to women in Assemblies and the Lok Sabha, which is a long-pending demand, the senior leader said. On Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis's claims about Pawar being privy to the BJP's plans to form government in Maharashtra along with a group of NCP MLAs led by Ajit Pawar in 2019, the senior Pawar said Fadnavis should focus on women's security in the state ..
The Nationalist Congress Party on Thursday accused Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of trying to garner publicity by "misusing" NCP president Sharad Pawar's name to outshine CM Eknath Shinde. Bharatiya Janata Party leader Fadnavis in an interview to a TV channel recently claimed Pawar agreed to form government with the BJP in 2019 and then backed off after three-four days. Reacting to the deputy CM's claim, NCP national spokesperson Clyde Crasto in a statement said, "After being subdued by Eknath Shinde in advertisements in the past few days, Devendra Fadnavis is now trying to garner publicity on his own, he is therefore misusing the name of Sharad Pawar in interviews, to gain free publicity and outshine Eknath Shinde." After the 2019 Assembly elections in Maharashtra, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (then undivided) snapped ties with long-term ally BJP over the issue of sharing the chief ministerial post. Later, Fadnavis was sworn in as the chief minister and
The Sharad Pawar-led NCP on Wednesday said broaching the issue of a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) ahead of elections was a political ploy and that such decisions should not be rushed through. "We have neither supported nor opposed UCC. We are only saying that such a big decision should not be rushed through," NCP working president Praful Patel told reporters here after a series of meetings of the party's various wings. Patel's remarks came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a strong pitch for UCC and wondered how a country can function with dual laws that govern personal matters. He also accused the Opposition of using the UCC issue to "mislead and provoke" the Muslim community. The NCP working president said, "If any law is to be brought for common good, it should not be rushed through. There should be proper discussion." Patel said if the UCC was being brought as an agent of social change, there should have been extensive consultations on the issue. "In this case, the Law
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Tuesday said the BJP should once again speak out against alleged corruption by the MLAs who are now part of the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Prime Minister Narendra Modi "should punish" all those against whom BJP leaders had leveled allegations in the past, NCP spokesperson Clyde Crasto said. He was responding to Modi, at a BJP program in Bhopal, recounting past corruption allegations against various Opposition parties including the NCP. He should know there was a time in Maharashtra when his (BJP's) leaders were highlighting scams of the MLAs who are now part of the Eknath Shinde group," Crasto said. BJP leaders in the state should once again speak out about the scams of the leaders "who are part of the Eknath Shinde group", he added.
Days after Ajit Pawar appealed that he be assigned a role in the NCP organisation, party president Sharad Pawar on Monday said such a decision cannot be taken by one person and key party leaders will sit to take a call on it. Senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar, who is the nephew of Sharad Pawar, recently appealed to the party leadership to relieve him of the responsibility as Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly and assign him any role in the party organisation. Notably, Sharad Pawar recently entrusted the responsibility of Maharashtra to his daughter and Lok Sabha member Supriya Sule by appointing her as a working president. Praful Patel is another working president for other states. Asked about Ajit Pawar's desire to have a position in the party organisation, the NCP chief said such decisions are not taken by any one person. "Key leaders including him (Ajit) will sit together and they will take a decision on this. Today, everyone in the party has the sentiment to work i
Over 32 leaders of opposition parties held a meeting in Patna on Friday and resolved to take on the BJP unitedly in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections
NCP president Sharad Pawar on Monday said no discussion took place on the "prime ministerial post" in the meeting of opposition parties held in Patna last week ahead of the Lok Sabha elections due next year. There were discussions on issues like inflation, unemployment and "deliberate attempts" at some places to encourage communal forces, Pawar told reporters in Baramati town here in Maharashtra. He also hit out at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party for its criticism of the opposition meeting. Why was the BJP worried about the conclave, Pawar said, claiming there was lack of "political maturity". Drawing the battle lines, over 32 leaders of more than a dozen opposition parties held a crucial meeting in Patna hosted by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday and resolved to take on the BJP unitedly in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. At a joint press meeting, the opposition parties said they would fight the polls on a common agenda and state-wise strategy, setting aside their ...
Pawar, who was accompanied by her daughter Supriya Sule, further added that "they are meeting to discuss some important issues of the country and decide the future course of action
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Friday said various important issues plaguing the country, including the current situation in violence-hit Manipur, will be discussed in the meeting of Opposition parties in Patna. Top leaders of opposition parties will meet in the Bihar capital on Friday to chalk out a roadmap for the formation of an anti-BJP front for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The meeting is being hosted by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar (JDU) and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav (RJD). Apart from Pawar, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee (TMC), Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann (AAP), Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin (DMK), Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav and Maharashtra's former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena-UBT) are scheduled to attend the first high-level opposition meeting. Talking to reporters in Pune before leaving for Patna, Pawar said, "We will be .
Where does Sharad Pawar's opening gambit of elevating daughter and lieutenant leave nephew Ajit Pawar on the NCP chessboard?
The NCP will observe June 20 as "gaddar day" (traitors' day) to mark the first anniversary of the rebellion in Shiv Sena which was led by Eknath Shinde and culminated in the collapse of the then Maha Vikas Aghadi government in June 2022. The MVA comprises Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), NCP, and Congress. State Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Jayant Patil has asked the party cadres to protest against the rebel MLA of Shiv Sena. "NCP workers should organise protests in the nook and corner of the state by displaying symbolic 'khoke' (boxes of money) based on which the Eknath Shinde government has come to power," he said on Saturday. Patil appealed to NCP workers to tell people that the temporary happiness of the Shinde camp, which was recognised by the Election Commission as real Shiv Sena, is on the wane and their days in government are numbered. The Sharad Pawar-led party had earlier organised public meetings explaining the Supreme Court verdict on the political cri
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Sharad Pawar on Saturday announced Supriya Sule and Praful Patel working presidents of the Nationalist Congress Party. Pawar made the announcement at the 25th anniversary of the party, founded by him and P A Sangma in 1999. The announcement was made in presence of Ajit Pawar, a key player in NCP. Pawar had last month offered to resign from the presidency of the party which was followed by fervent remonstrations from the party members as well as other political leaders. An NCP panel formed to deliberate on Pawar's offer had on May 5 rejected his resignation and urged him to continue as the party president.
Senior leaders of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Saturday expressed concern over the recent incidents of communal unrest witnessed in parts of Maharashtra, including Kolhapur. Addressing an event held here to mark completion of 24 years of the NCP's formation, party MP Supriya Sule said these incidents were not good for democracy, while its state unit chief Jayant Patil claimed that creating communal unrest through social media was something that never happened in the past. Tension gripped Kolhapur on Tuesday after two men allegedly put 18th-century Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan's image along with an offensive audio message as their social media status. The next day, the police had to disperse hundreds of protesters after they hurled stones during a demonstration in the city against the alleged use of Tipu Sultan's image. In Ahmednagar district, police registered a case against four persons for allegedly carrying posters of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb during a procession taken out
Angry activists of the NCP staged massive protests and a 'jail-bharo' agitation after the ruling ally BJP leader called senior leader Sharad Pawar as a reincarnation of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb
Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar has received a death threat on social media, NCP claimed on Friday. Taking cognisance of the matter, Mumbai police are in the process of registering a first information report, a senior police official said. A delegation of NCP workers led by Pawar's daughter and Lok Sabha member Supriya Sule met Mumbai police chief Vivek Phansalkar demanding action. The NCP leaders told the police that 82-year-old Pawar received a message on Facebook that read he will meet the same fate as (Narendra) Dabholkar soon. Narendra Dabholkar, who fought against superstitious beliefs, was shot dead by two bike-borne assailants during his morning walk in Pune on August 20, 2013. Sule submitted printouts of the screenshots of the death threat to the police. A senior police official told PTI that they have been informed about the threat to the NCP chief on a social media platform. We are looking into it. We have started a probe, the official said. NCP had
After alleged objectionable social media posts concerning Aurangzeb and Tipu Sultan that sparked tensions in Maharashtra's Kolhapur, Sharad Pawar said that there is no need for politics
If the Opposition comes up with a credible alternative ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, people may consider it, said NCP president Sharad Pawar on Tuesday, stressing that the decision on the new Parliament building could have been taken through dialogue with political parties. The senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader was speaking in a Sauhard Baithak' (meeting to foster amity) at Mahatma Gandhi Mission University in Maharashtra's Aurangabad. Speaking about next year's general elections, he said, My concern is if people will have the same approach for the (2024) Lok Sabha elections as they have for states (assembly polls). If the Opposition unites and offers a credible alternative, people may consider it. If the Opposition doesn't move wisely, it can't expect people to think of a different choice on their own, he said. Many opposition parties, including the Congress and JD(U), are trying to forge unity ahead of next year's Lok Sabha polls. If rulers accept the polic