NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday replied to his nephew's cryptic tweet (file)
Senior Nationalist Congress Party leader Jayant Patil, who has replaced Ajit Pawar as NCP's legislature party chief, appealed to him to respect his uncle Sharad Pawar's decision of not entering into a partnership with the BJP to form government in Maharashtra, and "come back" to the NCP.
"Ajit Dada, you are the founder-member of NCP. We all grew up in Sharad Pawar's guidance. But Pawar saheb has taken decision to not to go with the BJP for the welfare of Maharashtra citizens. Please respect this decision and come back," Mr Patil tweeted in Marathi.
The remark comes on a day Ajit Pawar -- who took oath as BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis' deputy in the Maharashtra government on Saturday-- tweeted he has not quit the party.
"I am in the NCP and shall always be in the NCP and Pawar Saheb is our leader. Our BJP-NCP alliance shall provide a stable government in Maharashtra for the next five years which will work sincerely for the welfare of the State and its people," Ajit Pawar said in a series of tweets in which he also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior BJP leaders for their congratulatory tweets on government formation.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar replied to his nephew's cryptic tweet, saying the NCP has decided to ally with the Sena.
"There is no question of forming an alliance with BJP. NCP has unanimously decided to ally with Shiv Sena and Congress to form the government. Ajit Pawar's statement is false and misleading in order to create confusion and false perception among the people," he tweeted.
Mr Fadnavis, in an announced ceremony, took oath of office early on Saturday. Ajit Pawar was also sworn in as his deputy, in a move that had stunned the NCP-Sena-Congress alliance, which was in talks for government formation.
On Saturday, 50 out of 54 NCP MLAs attended Sharad Pawar's meeting in Mumbai, raising questions on the support Ajit enjoys in the party.