Despite a brutal rebellion by his nephew Ajit Pawar, Sharad Pawar is refusing to give up and has launched a mission to re-develop the Nationalist Congress Party. Sharad Pawar responded to Ajit Pawar’s retirement jibe with Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s quote on Saturday and said “I’m not tired, I’m not retired, I’m fire.” NCP supremo even asserted that all the rebels will be disqualified from the party.
On Wednesday, Ajit Pawar took a dig at the old age of Sharad Pawar and asked him to consider retirement. “You portrayed me as a villain in front of everyone. I still have deep respect for him (Sharad Pawar)…But you tell me, IAS officers retire at 60…even in politics – BJP leaders retire at 75. You can see the example of LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi…That allows the new generation to rise,” Ajit Pawar said
Sharad Pawar invokes former Prime Minister Morarji Desai
Sharad Pawar invoked former Prime Minister Morarji Desai while responding to the retirement jibe by Ajit Pawar. “Do you know at what age Morarji Desai became the prime minister? I don’t want to become the PM or a minister but only want to serve the people,” Sharad Pawar said.
On the assertion made by Praful Patel that Sharad Pawar has given all powers to Supriya Sule, the NCP supremo said that it was the demand of party workers that Supriya Sule comes to politics. “Party workers wanted that Supriya Sule comes to politics, she fought Lok Sabha polls and won. We gave Union Minister post to Praful Patel for 10 years. He lost the Lok Sabha election, and after that, we gave him a Rajya Sabha seat,” Sharad Pawar told news agency ANI.
Top quotes from Sharad Pawar
After Ajit Pawar-led 9 MLAs decided to join the Maharashtra government, NCP chief Sharad Pawar was seen in action. He conducted party meetings and took the road to reinvigorate the NCP cadres. Here are some quotes he used during the process:
1. “Today’s situation is not new to me. After the election in 1980, all MLAs except 6 out of 58 of the party I was leading left the party.”
2. “I know how to start from scratch and will rebuild the party once again.”
3. “I don’t believe there has been any split in my family.”
4. “Be it 82 or 92. I am still effective.”
5. “Na tired hu na retired.”
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Updated: 08 Jul 2023, 03:31 PM IST