Praful Patel says 'no ED pressure', NCP uncle-nephew split a 'collective decision'; Sharad Pawar rebukes him for abandoning party guidelines

Praful Patel, the working NCP president, who was one of the key men to side with Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government said it was a 'collective' decision. His remarks came soon after Sharad Pawar said he was only upset with him and Sunil Tatkare.

Mumbai: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) working president-turned-rebel Praful Patel Sunday said that siding with Ajit Pawar who joined Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government along with eight other MLAs was a "collective decision" of the party even as he refuted NCP supremo Sharad Pawar's remarks that the leaders had done so due to graft cases against them.

"I will not comment on whatever our leader Sharad Pawar has said, he is a highly respectable person. Whatever decision we have taken... as Ajit Pawar mentioned in his press conference, it is the party's decision, a collective decision. There is no pressure from anyone...," Patel said when asked if they have taken the decision due to "ED pressure".

His reaction came shortly after Sharad Pawar said he was not upset with anybody in view of the major political development in his party but slammed Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare for "abandoning" guidelines of the party president and taking a "wrong path".

In dramatic developments in Maharashtra politics, NCP leader Ajit Pawar on Sunday led a vertical split in the party to become the deputy chief minister. Eight MLAs of the NCP took oath as ministers in the Shiv Sena-BJP government. "I am not upset with anybody except Praful Patel and Tatkare. I had appointed them as general secretaries but they abandoned the guidelines of the party president and took the wrong path. They have no right to remain in that position," the NCP chief said.

They have to understand this and decide whether they want to continue further or not, he added. Patel, known to be a close aide of Sharad Pawar, was elevated to the post of NCP's working president along with Supriya Sule on the 24th Foundation Day of the party last month. Tatkare, whose daughter Aditi took oath as minister on Sunday, was appointed as the national general secretary of NCP.

Patel said he has been a member of Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha since 1991 and was always obliged for what the party has given him. Notably, in 2019, the CBI questioned former civil aviation minister Praful Patel in connection with alleged corruption in giving profitable routes of Air India to private airlines based in West Asia.