Mumbai: Former Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Ajit Pawar said he had never walked off a meeting of Nationalist Congress (Party) on Sunday, since he was not allowed to speak. Ajit Pawar was seen leaving the stage in the presence of his uncle Sharad Pawar and other NCP leaders who were attending a national convention of the party. Sources in the NCP said Sharad Pawar was named head of the NCP for four more years at the two-day national event. The NCP’s Maharashtra chief Jayant Patil and Sharad Pawar addressed the meeting. Ajit Pawar had left the stage immediately after Patil was invited to address the event and that sparked speculations.
Ajit Pawar said, “In the national convention of the NCP, Maharashtra’s state president Jayant Patil spoke, because only party presidents speak in such events. Nobody stopped me from speaking… I went to the washroom – can’t I go out?” He further said that the media reports should be based on facts and that he was not upset at all, which he could write on a stamp paper.
Ajit Pawar said he did not speak at the meeting, as it was a national convention. Member of Parliament from NCP Praful Patel had announced that Ajit Pawar would speak before Sharad Pawar’s concluding speech, but when his time came, he was not available on the stage. According to reports, NCP MP Supriya Sule, the daughter of Sharad Pawar, tried to convince her brother to return to the stage. When Ajit Pawar returned to the stage, Sharad Pawar had started his valedictory remark, so the former did not have a chance to speak.
