Meetings of Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar Factions Today
With neither sides having given a clear figure of the number of MLAs supporting them yet, both Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar factions have issued whips to respective supporting MLAs to attend 'party meetings' called by the respective chiefs in Mumbai.
While Sharad Pawar will chair the meeting at Mumbai's YB Chavan centre, Ajit Pawar will hold it in Bandra.
'Ajit Pawar Should Have Approached Me': Sharad Pawar
Addressing the gathering of MLAs, party leaders, and supporters, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar said: "We are not hungry for power; we will keep working for the people."
"Ajit Pawar should have spoken to me if he had any problems. If he had something on his mind he could have approached me," he said.
"We weren't taken into confidence by the MLAs who decided to split. Ajit Pawar faction has not followed any procedure," he added.
Talking about the party symbol, he said: "The party symbol is with us, it is not going anywhere. The people and party workers who brought us to power are with us."
'Don't Mess With Our Father': Supriya Sule
Addressing the gathering of NCP leaders of the Sharad Pawar faction, Supriya Sule said: "Disrespect us, but not our father. This fight is against the BJP government. BJP is the most corrupt party in the country."
"The original NCP is with Sharad Pawar and the original symbol is us," she said.
Ajit Pawar Moves EC to Stake Claim on Party Name and Symbol
Election Commission of India has received a petition from Ajit Pawar staking claim to Nationalist Congress Party and party symbol. The commission has also received a caveat from Jayant Patil that they have initiated disqualification process against 9 MLAs, news agency ANI reported.
Ajit Asks Sharad Pawar 'Take Rest and Give Blessings'
Speaking about Sharad Pawar, Ajit Pawar said: "If your age has reached 82-83, are you ever going to stop? You just give your blessings. We want you to become shatayushi (live 100 years)."
"In a meeting before 2 May, he told me that he will resign and look after the organisations in the party. He said he will form a committee with me, Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare, Jayant Patil, Dhanjay Munde, Anil Patil andHasan Mushrif, etc. and asked us to decide and declare Supriya Sule as the party chief. We agreed to that. Nobody knows what happens in two days. He withdrew his resignation. If you wanted to withdraw, why did you resign in the first place?" he asked.
"Are we not capable of running a government? Am I not among the top leaders of the state? They why did we never get any blessings?" he asked.
"I told Supriya that we are family, we grew up together, she should to speak to him but I am told he is stubborn, he won't listen," Ajit Pawar said.
"One senior leader was being convinced to return and was told 'we will see how you win elections next time.' Is this the language supposed to be used by the seniors? They are your children," he said.