Amid the Maharashtra Assembly election heat, NCP chief and an ally of the BJP-led Mahayuti Ajit Pawar has slammed the "batenge to katenge [Divided we shall be cut]" call issued by UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Ajit Pawar, who is also one of the two Deputy Chief Ministers of Maharashtra, further revealed that even BJP leaders were against the slogan.
"We all opposed it. Not just my NCP leaders and I, but even Pankaja Munde and [Poonam] Mahajan [opposed]," Pawar said in an interaction with news agency ANI. Mentioning Yogi Adityanath, he further said: "Some other state's chief minister comes and issues a call of 'batenge to katenge'... We told him that this is not UP. This might work in the North, but not in Maharashtra. We abide by the principles of Ambedkar."
Ajit Pawar further said that he believed in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's philosophy of "sabka sath, sabka vikas" and "ek hain to safe hain". At the same time, he dismissed talks of any rift between the alliance leaders.
Speaking about the friction between the NCP and the BJP over the candidature of Nawab Malik from the Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar constituency, Ajit Pawar said anyone can level allegations, but that doesn't make the claims true. The BJP had opposed the allocation of Mahayuti tickets to Nawab Malik, alleging that he had links to underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. Devendra Fadnavis, the other Deputy CM, even wrote an open letter saying that Nawab Malik cannot have a place among Mahayuti leaders till he is cleared of all the charges against him in court.
Despite the opposition from the BJP, the NCP granted a ticket to Nawab Malik's daughter Sana Malik Shaikh as well. She will contest the Anushakti Nagar seat, where Nawab is the incumbent MLA.
Ajit Pawar also dismissed any chance of reconciliation with his uncle Sharad Pawar.
