Now, banners projecting Ajit Pawar as ‘future Maharashtra CM’ come up in parts of State
The Hindu
Responding to the issue of banners, NCP chief Sharad Pawar (who is Ajit’s uncle) said in Mumbai: “Ajit Pawar himself has said that putting his posters terming him as the future CM is madness.”
Amid the buzz around Maharashtra Leader of the Opposition and senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar joining the ruling Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena-BJP dispensation, posters hailing the NCP leader as the ‘future CM of Maharashtra’ have sprung up in parts of the State.
Despite Mr. Ajit Pawar himself firmly repudiating speculation of his joining the BJP-Shinde alliance, banners, replete with catchy taglines proclaiming him as ‘a future CM’ sprung up in Nagpur — the bastion of BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis — and Dharashiv (formerly Osmanabad) among other places.
The sprouting of these banners ahead of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to Nagpur (on April 27) has sparked a fresh bout of speculation in spite of Mr. Ajit Pawar apparently dissuading over-enthusiastic elements among his NCP supporters to put up such posters.
Responding to the issue of banners, NCP chief Sharad Pawar (who is Ajit’s uncle) said in Mumbai: “Ajit Pawar himself has said that putting his posters terming him as the future CM is madness.”
On April 21, during an interview organised by a prominent vernacular media group, Mr. Ajit Pawar, who has held the Deputy Chief Minister’s post four times in the past, had, in response to a question, drolly quipped: “Not just in 2024, I am ready to stake claim to the Chief Minister’s post even now.”
When questioned later on the buzz that his statement on wanting to be Chief Minister had generated, he had said: “In response to the interviewer’s question, I had merely said that why wait till 2024, if we [NCP] get the majority today, I would like to be CM even now. Now, after I have given my opinion, I am not obliged to give any reaction on what others keep saying.”
Despite both Ajit and Sharad Pawar hinting there was nothing to read in such statements, the former’s supporters are nonetheless gunning for Mr. Ajit Pawar to be Chief Minister.
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