Pune: National Congress Party (NCP) supremo, Sharad Pawar on Monday said that the call over the next party chief will be taken by the party after thorough deliberations in this regard. Pawar was talking to the media in Baramati on Monday morning. Over party leader Ajit Pawar suggesting that he wanted a role in the party organization, Sharad Pawar said, “I am not taking this decision alone. If he has expressed his wish, then the decision will be taken by the office bearers of the party,” the NCP supremo said.
“Everyone has a feeling that everyone should pay attention to the work of the party organization. Ajit Pawar has expressed the same opinion on the platform of the party, there is nothing different about it,” he added. Significantly, following Sharad Pawar's recent statement that he was stepping down from the party's top post, his nephew Ajit Pawar had suggested he was eyeing a post in the party organization.
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However, Ajit Pawar's plans were scuttled by a statement by his fellow party leader Chagan Bhujbal. Bhujbal said that the NCP's next chief should be from the OBC community. Bhujbal himself belongs to the OBC category. Meanwhile, at the Baramati presser, Sharad Pawar also delved into various other issues including Telangana Chief Minister and BRS chief KCR's recent statement over export of Maharashtra onions to Hyderabad.
“There have been reports in some newspapers that the farmers took their onion produce to Hyderabad for sale, but they got lost there,” he said. The NCP supremo accused KCR of politicizing the issue for his personal gains. “If they want to serve people, they are welcome,” he said. Over KCR's show of strength in Maharashtra, the Telangana CM said it will be seen in the upcoming elections whether the BRS has any presence in the state.
Pawar also hit out at Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis over his statement that “injustice” was being meted out to OBCs in NCP. Sharad Pawar said that the first state president of the party was Chhagan Bhujbal, who is an OBC leader. “Who was Madhukar Pichad? Sunil Tatkare was also the state president of NCP,” he said.
