“Sharad Pawar is tallest leader but he never formed govt on his own”: Dilip Walse Patil

Pune (Maharashtra) [India]: Dilip Walse Patil, former Home Minister of Maharashtra has said that there is no big leader like Sharad Pawar but he had never formed the government on his own.

Dilip Walse Patil was a loyalist of Sharad Pawar in the NCP but after a rift in the party, he joined the Ajit-Pawar-led faction of the NCP.

Patil while addressing party workers at Ambegaon taluka, his constituency, he said, “We always say that there is no big leader like Sharad Pawar in the country, but the people of Maharashtra have never given him a majority and never made him the Chief Minister on his own.”

The former Home Minister also points out that other regional parties are moving ahead on their own, but NCP is lacking behind.

“Mamata Banerjee and Mayawati become the CM, but we have to form an alliance with someone or the other. The regional party is moving ahead on its own, but our 60 to 70 MLAs get elected and we have to form an alliance with others,” Patil said.

Dilip Walse Patil further said “We have not joined BJP, NCP is our own party, we are in NCP only. The Election Commission will decide who will get the name and symbol of the party, after that, there can be a stir in the politics of the state.”

“We had talked to Sharad Pawar twice before taking the decision to join the government, but when no response came from there, we had to take this step,” Patil added.

Earlier, Sharad Pawar also alleged that some of the NCP leaders joined hands with the BJP since they were threatened by the “agencies”.

“Some of our associates joined BJP under the pressure of investigations by agencies. They were told if you join us (the BJP) then nothing will happen in your cases but if you don’t join then you will be shown a different place (jail),” Sharad Pawar said on Sunday.

The crisis in the NCP was triggered by Ajit Pawar (then Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly) switching sides and joining the Eknath Shinde-BJP government and taking oath as the Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister, a few months back. Eight other NCP MLAs took oath as ministers with Ajit Pawar.