"It's their personal decision:" NCP youth wing on split in party

New Delhi [India], July 3 : Reacting to Ajit Pawar's decision to join the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance on Sunday, the National President of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) youth wing, Dheeraj Sharma said that it is their personal decision and has nothing to do with the party adding that the whole party is standing with NCP chief Sharad Pawar.

NCP leader Ajit Pawar joined the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance in Maharashtra and took oath as Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister on Sunday in a surprise and dramatic political move that changed political equations in the state ahead of Lok Sabha and assembly polls next year that has ramifications for national politics.

Talking to ANI, Sharma said, "It's their personal decision and has nothing to do with the party. We just want to say that the whole party is standing with Pawar Sahab. Without Pawar Sahab, there is no NCP. The whole country and the state of Maharashtra, the people of Maharashtra are strongly standing with Pawar Sahab."

Meanwhile, NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Monday visited Karad town in Maharashtra's Satara district and addressed a public meeting and said that the people of Maharashtra will not succumb to undemocratic forces.

He also pointed out that a rift was being created among people in the State and the country by some groups in the name of caste and religion.

Addressing a public meeting at the Yashwant Chavan Samadhi in Karad, the NCP chief said, "We were serving Maharashtra under Uddhav Thackeray but our government was toppled by some people. The same happened in some other parts of the country too in Delhi, Punjab and West Bengal where the governments are working democratically, are being attacked."

Without naming his nephew Ajit Pawar who joined the Eknath Shinde-led government with eight other MLAs, the NCP chief further said the people of Maharashtra will not succumb to "undemocratic forces".

"Today, in Maharashtra and the country, a rift is being created in the society in the name of caste and religion by some groups. We tried to stand against the BJP, but unfortunately, some of us went fell prey to it. With the support of the public, we will be strengthened again. Nevertheless, the people of Maharashtra will not succumb to these undemocratic forces. Maharashtra again will go on the path of progress," Sharad Pawar said.

Before his public address, Pawar visited the Preeti-Sangam memorial of his political mentor and the first chief minister of Maharashtra Yashwantrao Chavan and paid floral tribute to him.

The move by Ajit Pawar and eight other NCP MLAs joining the Shinde-Fadnavis government came amid efforts by opposition parties to forge unity to take on the BJP in the next year's Lok Sabha polls. Sharad Pawar, a former Maharashtra Chief Minister, has been a key leader in opposition unity efforts.

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