Ajit Pawar greeted uncle Sharad Pawar on birthday on behalf of people of Maharashtra: NCP leader

Mumbai, Dec 12 (PTI) With eyebrows raised over Ajit Pawar meeting his estranged uncle Sharad Pawar on his birthday, NCP leader Anil Patil on Thursday said the Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister's act was appropriate as he greeted the senior Pawar on behalf of the people of the state.

He said Ajit Pawar has won the mandate of the people in the recently-held Maharashtra assembly elections.

Sharad Pawar on Thursday turned 84 and celebrated his birthday with members of his family and well-wishers, including estranged nephew and Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, in Delhi.

The former Union minister cut the birthday cake with a sword at his 6, Janpath residence in the national capital surrounded by party workers. Ajit Pawar, who parted ways with the senior Pawar last year and handed out a resounding defeat to the veteran leader in the state assembly polls, was present at the birthday celebrations along with his family members.

Ajit Pawar's wife and Rajya Sabha member Sunetra Pawar, and their son Parth, visited the senior leader along with NCP leaders Praful Patel, Chhagan Bhujbal and Sunil Tatkare there.

The meeting between the leaders of the rival factions raised eyebrows in political circles.

Talking to a TV channel, Anil Patil, who is NCP's chief whip in the state assembly, said Sharad Pawar was a senior leader and greeting him on his birthday was his duty.

"He will always be respectable to us," the MLA from Amalner assembly segment in north Maharashtra's Jalgaon district said.

To a question on why Ajit Pawar visited his estranged uncle on his birthday this year, Patil said, "Ajit Pawar has got people's mandate in the assembly polls and it was appropriate to call on Sharad Pawar to wish him on behalf of the people." "Even though several leaders in the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) are troubled over the election results, they may not switch sides immediately," he said.

"Wait and watch," Patil added.

In July last year, the NCP witnessed a split with more than two-thirds of the party MLAs supporting Ajit Pawar, who joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government as deputy chief minister.

Later, the Election Commission recognised the Ajit Pawar-led group as the real NCP and asked the Sharad Pawar-led faction to select a new name for the party and an election symbol.

In the last month's assembly elections, the BJP-led Mahayuti coalition comprising Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, Ajit Pawar's NCP trounced the opposition MVA of Congress, Shiv Sena-UBT and NCP-SP.

The Mahayuti won 230 seats, while the opposition alliance was restricted to 46 seats in the 288-member assembly. Under the Mahayuti alliance, the BJP won 132 seats, the Shiv Sena 57 and the NCP 41 seats, while in the MVA, the Shiv Sena (UBT) won 20 seats, the Congress 16 and the NCP (SP) candidates won 10 seats.

BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis last week took oath as the chief minister of the state, while Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar were sworn in as deputy CMs. PTI MR NP