In yet another setback for Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar ahead of the Assembly polls, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLC Babajani Durrani joined the Sharad Pawar faction on Saturday in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
Durrani cited ideological differences with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena as reasons for leaving the NCP. “Ideologically, NCP doesn’t align with BJP and Shiv Sena, making adjustment difficult,” Durrani said.
On Friday, Durrani’s son Junaid attended a meeting in Parbhani with NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) state chief Jayant Patil, seeking an election ticket for his father from Pathri, which is part of the Parbhani Lok Sabha constituency. Junaid also praised Sharad Pawar and emphasised his family’s continued loyalty despite the physical separation.
Meanwhile, days after Union Home Minister Amit Shah called Sharad Pawar the "ringleader of corruption in politics," the NCP (SP) chief hit back, saying it was strange that a person who had been externed from Gujarat by the Supreme Court was leading such an important ministry in the country.
"A few days ago, Home Minister Amit Shah attacked me and said a few things. He said that Sharad Pawar is the commander of all the corrupt people in the country. Strangely, the man who is the Home Minister of the country today is such a person who misused the law of Gujarat and for this, the Supreme Court banished him from Gujarat," said Pawar.
"The one who was banished is the Home Minister of the country today. So, we should think about where we are headed. The way the people in whose hands I am are taking this wrong path, we should think about it; otherwise, they will 100 per cent take the country on the wrong path. We will have to pay attention to this," he added.
