Supriya Sule Rebuts Ajit Pawar’s Claim, Says Sharad Pawar Is NCP Supremo

Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar had claimed that his NCP colleagues have appointed him the national president of the party.

Outlook Web Desk

Updated on: 29 August 2023 11:30 am

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar

NCP leader Supriya Sule on Tuesday said that the party supremo Sharad Pawar has remained the NCP president since the inception of the party in 1999, while rebutting the claim of Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar.

Sule’s reaction comes after Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar had claimed that his NCP colleagues have appointed him the national president of the party.

“In a democracy, they can say whatever they want… That does not mean it is the truth,” Sule was quoted by The Indian Express as having said.

“My colleagues have made me the national president, so I am…,” Ajit Pawar had reportedly said in Pune on Monday.

Ajit Pawar had made the statement while responding to a remark by breakaway NCP faction leader Sunil Tatkare.

Sunil Tatkare had said, “Ajit Pawar is our national president and that is what we have said in our submission before the EC. We are confident that the Election Commission’s decision will go our way.”

Sule as per the report said: “In public life, no one is the owner of a party. Janata (the public) is the real owner. For us, right from the beginning when the party was set up in 1999, Sharad Pawar has been the national president of the party. And Jayant Patil is the state party president.”

Earlier, Sharad Pawar has also claimed that he was the national president and Jayant Patil the state president of the party.

“An MLA does not mean a party. Some MLAs in our party have taken a different stand, this is a fact, but it does not mean they are a party. When these people were asked who the NCP president was, they said Sharad Pawar… I am the national president and Jayant Patil is the state president,” Sharad Pawar had said.

Supporting Sule’s contention, Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Sanjay Raut said, “We reject Ajit Pawar’s claim. He has caused damage to the party which Sharad Pawar saheb built brick by brick. Now… Pawar saheb has taken up the challenge of rebuilding the party and once again making it the force it was. The Ajit Pawar faction is nervous and jittery. Everyone knows what Pawar saheb is capable of,”the report said.