NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday dismissed estranged nephew Ajit Pawar’s suggestion that he should retire from active politics and cited former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s words stating: “Na tired hu, na retired hu” (I am neither tired nor retired).
The NCP founder also referenced the age of veteran Prime Minister Morarji Desai in his response to Ajit’s remark suggesting that his uncle should retire at the age of 83. “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,” Pawar was quoted as saying to a Marathi digital news channel Mumbai Tak.
He asserted, “Na tired hu, na retired hu.” (I am neither tired nor retired) and said he can still work. “Who are they to tell me to retire? I can still work,” he said.
To another query on the succession war in the family after Ajit Pawar’s remarks that he was sidelined as he wasn’t somebody’s (Sharad Pawar’s) son, the veteran politician said, “I don’t want to say much on this topic. I don’t like discussing family issues outside the family.”
Pawar highlighted that Ajit Pawar was appointed as a minister and even served as the deputy chief minister. However, no ministerial position was offered to his daughter, Supriya Sule, despite the possibility. “Whenever NCP got a ministerial berth at the Centre, it was given to others but not to Supriya despite her being a member of Parliament,” Pawar said.
Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar had earlier this week traded barbs after the new Maharashtra deputy chief minister asked in his speech when was Sharad Pawar, who is 82 years old, “going to stop.”
Sule raised strong objections to the remarks and stated “One can criticise me or any other person, but I will not tolerate that against my father….he is more than a father for the party workers,” she said.
“We as daughters are far better than the sons who ask their father to sit at home,” she added.
One week after Ajit Pawar and eight other NCP MLAs joined the Eknath Shinde-led ministry in Maharashtra, Sharad Pawar is commencing his statewide tour by organizing a rally in Yeola, located in Nashik district. Yeola is the constituency of rebel party leader and minister Chhagan Bhujbal. Pawar’s decision to start his party rebuilding efforts in Yeola, a small town situated 250 km north of Mumbai, is interpreted as the veteran leader’s endeavor to rejuvenate the party.
(With inputs from PTI)
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