Mumbai: Even as Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar's prospective split from the party appears to have been put on backburner, his outburst against Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut seems to be leadeing to new problems within the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).
"I am the MVA’s chowkidar. Who is Ajit Pawar to question my reliability?" the Sena (UBT) leader asked on Wednesday while talking to media person here in Mumbai.
Ajit Pawar vs Sanjay Raut
On Tuesday, while putting to rest speculation regarding his potential political moves, a visibaly angry Ajit Pawar had sharply criticized Sena (UBT) spokesperson and editor of party mouthpiece Sanjay Raut without naming him. "Spokespersons from other parties are acting like they are NCP’s spokesmen. Who has given them the right to speak on our behalf? We are quite capable of expressing our own stance in a firm manner. We do not need anyone to act as our legal counsel,” he had said.
Sanjay Raut hits back
Reacting sharply to Ajit Pawar's statement Raut on Wednesday termed himself as 'watchman' of the MVA and that the NCP leader has no reason to get angry at him for stating the fact that the BJP was attempting to break the NCP. He also said that when his party (Shiv Sena) was getting subjected to split last year everybody from the MVA had reacted to it as they felt concerned about it.
“I am chowkidar of the MVA. When the Shiv Sena was being split, all our allies including Sharad Pawar, Ajit Pawar, Nana Patole of the Congress had expressed worry about us. It is our duty to ensure that all our allies remain firm when pressure is being applied by the BJP in form of Central agencies to break us,” Raut said.
Raut also questioned Pawar Jr's authority to question his (Raut’s) reliability.
“How can he question my reliability? I can accept if NCP president Sharad Pawar says something. I listen only to Sharad Pawar on anything like this," Raut said.
What Raut wrote in Saamana
Raut, after a recent meeting between Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar, had claimed that Pawar Sr spoke of NCP leaders being subject to pressure by Central agencies in order to break the party. Later in his weekly column in Saamana, Raut had also claimed that Pawar Sr told Uddhav Thackeray that while the party as a whole would not merge with the BJP, some individuals may take a personal decision to do so.
Defending his written words, Raut said, "What is wrong if I’ve written in the Saamana that there was an attempt to break the opposition in Maharashtra? Have the BJP not broken the Shiv Sena? Are they not targeting the NCP? Go and ask NCP leaders Hasan Mushrif, Jitendra Awhad, Praful Patel or Anil Deshmukh whether or not there is any pressure on them. If I am putting these things in front of the public what is wrong with that?”
It is ironic that Ajit Pawar was blaming him, Raut said, adding that he has actually uncovered the BJP conspiracy to break the NCP.
Raut's proximity to Sharad Pawar was flagged as one one the contentious issues that led to split within the Shiv Sena. Now it appears to be creating trouble within the NCP also.
