BJP has given ‘supari’ to Ajit Pawar to end his uncle’s political career: Ex-Minister Anil Deshmukh

Former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh alleged that the BJP has given “supari” to rebel NCP leader Ajit Pawar to end the political career of his uncle, the NCP supremo Sharad Pawar.

Former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on December 1 alleged that the BJP has given “supari”, a slang term referring to blood money paid to an assassin, to rebel Nationalist Congress Party leader and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar to end the political career of his uncle, the NCP supremo Sharad Pawar.

Mr. Deshmukh, a Sharad Pawar-loyalist, claimed that Mr. Ajit Pawar’s decision to ally with the State’s ruling alliance of the BJP and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena followed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s allegations of corruption to the tune of ₹70,000 crore against the NCP during a speech in Bhopal.

The NCP, founded by Mr. Sharad Pawar in 1999, witnessed a vertical split on July 2, with Mr. Ajit Pawar and eight MLAs joining the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government. Later, several other MLAs from the party also switched their loyalty to the junior Pawar, who went on to become the State’s Deputy Chief Minister for the fifth time, setting a record for the largest number of appointments to this position since it was created in 1978.

“Entire Maharashtra and India knows that Mr. Ajit Pawar and those with him hurriedly joined the government after PM Modi’s speech in Bhopal,” Mr. Deshmukh said.

He further suggested that Mr. Ajit Pawar wanted to avoid the problems faced by other senior NCP leaders. “Do you know why he took a different path? The senior NCP leaders didn’t want to face the trouble I went through,” said Mr. Deshmukh, referring to his arrest in an alleged corruption case.

He added that the Deputy Chief Minister was being sidelined by the BJP and Shiv Sena in decision-making within the government.