Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut says, Ajit Pawar capable of becoming Maha CM

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar was capable of becoming Maharashtra chief minister since he has vast administrative experience, the former's statement coming days after the two engaged in a verbal tussle.

Raut, a key aide of Uddhav Thackeray, also said some undeserving people had gone on to become CM of the state by engineering splits, an apparent reference to Eknath Shinde whose rebellion along with 40 MLAs in June last year brought down the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.

Who would not like to be chief minister? And Ajit Pawar is capable of becoming chief minister. He has been in politics for so many years now and has been minister several times. He holds a record for having served as deputy CM for the most number of times. Everyone thinks one should become CM, Raut said.

Pawar went back to the NCP and was made deputy CM in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government led by Uddhav Thackeray. Raut's statement comes a day after Pawar, during an interview with a media house in Pune, responded to a query on his chief ministerial ambitions by saying yes, I would 100 per cent like to be (CM).

Queried on this, Raut said, He (Pawar) has not expressed this desire for the first time. So my best wishes to him. These statements come amid intense speculation about Pawar's next political move, as the mercurial NCP leader cancelled some of his programmes recently, went incommunicado briefly and skipped the party's one-day convention in Mumbai.