MUMBAI: The NCP faction supporting Ajit Pawar staged an agitation in Pune and other parts of Maharashtra upset over BJP MLC Gopichand Padalkar's remarks on the leader and demanded action against the BJP leader.
Padalkar who had written a letter to Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde and deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis demanding inclusion of Dhangar into the Scheduled Tribe (STs), had left out Ajit Pawar.
When the BJP leader was asked as to why he didn't write a letter to Ajit Pawar on the same, he marked that 'Pawar was a cunning pup of a cunning wolf and there is no need to approach him'.
Reacting to this, several NCP supporters said they joined the government for the development of the state, not to get insulted by the BJP leaders like Gopichand Padalkar who has neither dignity nor the base.
"If Gopichand Padalkar continues to use foul and low-level language, then NCP will not let Padalkar roam in the state. There is a limit to tolerating such nonsense remarks. The dignity has to be maintained,” said NCP Pune president Deepak Mankar.
Devendra Fadnavis reacted to the BJP MLC's leader saying that the leaders should not make any inappropriate remarks against each other.
Interestingly, in the 2019 state assembly elections, Padlkar lost his deposit while contesting against Ajit Pawar in Baramati.
Meanwhile, a senior NCP leader alleged that the BJP leader would not have made such a derogatory remark about Ajit Pawar without the consent of Devendra Fadnavis.
“There must be something that Fadnavis is not happy with Ajit Pawar’s inductions in this government. The reason, Fadnavis was not in the loop when Mr Pawar was inducted as Deputy chief minister of Maharashtra. Ajit Pawar was directly dealing with the top leadership of the BJP. Fadnavis was informed about this Pawar-BJP power agreement at the last moment," he said.
"Now, Ajit Pawar may get the upper hand as a strong Maratha leader as BJP has decided to promote Maratha leadership in the state therefore this attack on Padalkar cannot be seen as an off-shot remark. There is politics behind it. The matter will be taken to senior leaders,” the NCP leader added, requesting anonymity.