Would have brought along entire party had CM's post been offered: Ajit Pawar
Thane, Aug 7: Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Wednesday said he would have brought the entire Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) with him had the BJP and Shiv Sena offered him the chief minister's post.
Speaking at the launch of "Yoddha Karmayogi - Eknath Sambhaji Shinde", a biography of the current chief minister, Pawar noted in a lighter vein that in politics he was senior to both CM Shinde and fellow deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis.
Shinde and Fadnavis were also present at the book launch.
Pawar rebelled against his uncle Sharad Pawar in July 2023 and joined the BJP-Sena government by splitting the NCP.
"All went ahead and I trailed behind," Ajit Pawar said, noting that Fadnavis first became an MLA in 1999 and Shinde in 2004, while he first became a member of the state assembly way back in 1990.
Fadnavis served as chief minister twice, from 2014 to 2019 and for 72 hours in 2019 when Ajit Pawar joined hands with him in a short-lived alliance government.
"I told a few people jokingly that when you (an apparent reference to the BJP) told Eknath Shinde to come along with these many MLAs and he would be made chief minister.....You should have asked me. I would have brought the entire party along," quipped Pawar.
"Whatever happens in life is planned by destiny," Pawar said with a mock seriousness, evoking laughter.
The NCP chief has not concealed his ambition to occupy the top post in the state in the past.
Shinde led a rebellion with 39 MLAs against then Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray in 2022 which led to the collapse of the Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government. Shinde then became the chief minister.
Pawar said he has seen several chief ministers, but none like Shinde who is surrounded by people all the time.
Speaking on the occasion, Fadnavis noted that he himself is someone who became chief minister, leader of Opposition and then a deputy chief minister during a single assembly term (between 2019 and 2024).
Similarly, Pawar became deputy chief minister, the leader of Opposition and again a deputy chief minister during the same period, he said.
Speaking to reporters later, CM Shinde expressed confidence that his government would retain power after the assembly elections, thanks to its focus on development and welfare schemes over the past two years.
"The Mahayuti government has worked as a team, prioritizing both development and welfare schemes," he said.
He also announced that funds under the 'Ladki Bahin Yojana' would be credited to the accounts of eligible women across the state before the Raksha Bandhan festival.
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Duleep Trophy: Pacers shine as India B beat India A by 76 runs
Bengaluru, Sep 8: KL Rahul's gumption, which helped him pile a patient fifty, found no resonance among his colleagues as India B pacers led by Yash Dayal pushed India A to a 76-run defeat on the fourth and final day of their Duleep Trophy match here on Sunday.
Chasing 275, India A were bundled out for 198 in their second innings as left-arm seamer Dayal (3/50), with able support from his colleagues Mukesh Kumar (2/50) and Navdeep Saini (2/41), led the India B attack.
Rahul top-scored for 'A' with a 51.
In the first session of the day, India B made 184 all out in their second essay to muster a handy overall lead of 274.
The India A chase began on a shaky note as Mayank Agarwal departed in the second over itself, wafting Dayal away from his body to Nitish Kumar Reddy, who made a wonderful diving catch at second slip.
That brought Riyan Parag to the middle and the right-hander followed the path set on Saturday by Rishabh Pant and Sarfaraz Khan.
Parag took on the bowlers and pacer Mukesh bore the brunt of his aggression, getting smoked for two sixes and the second maximum touched the roof of the Chinnaswamy Stadium over the mid-wicket region.
Parag added 48 runs for the second with a rather subdued Shubman Gill, who was dropped by Nitish Reddy at slips off Mukesh on 16, and 31 came off the former's bat in just 18 balls.
But the approach was tough to sustain considering the kind of assistance the bowlers were getting here, and soon his massive hoick off Dayal took an edge off Parag's bat en route to stumper Rishabh Pant.
Gill (21) departed soon, falling to Saini for the second time in the match and on this occasion, he edged the pacer to Pant.
Dhruv Jurel poked Dayal well outside off-stump to Yashasvi Jaiswal at gully, as India batters perished to a combination of bowlers' persistence on that channel and their own carelessness.
They took the lunch at a queasy 76 for four that soon transpired into 99 for six after the dismissal of Shivam Dube and Tanush Kotian, an hour into the lunch.
However, Rahul batted out 180 minutes 121 balls and milked 42 runs for the seventh wicket with Kuldeep Yadav to delay the inevitable.
The standout shot in an otherwise dour innings was a whistling on drive off Mukesh that fetched him a boundary.
But Mukesh had his revenge soon when Rahul feathered a cut off him to Pant, who completed five catches in this innings, soon after reaching his fifty with a single off Saini.
It effectively signalled the end of the road of for India A, though Akash Deep (43, 42b, 3x4, 4x6) gave a few moments of fun with a cavalier innings.
But beyond the entertainment value, it always was a case of when more than if.
Earlier, resuming from their overnight score of 150 for six India B could only 34 runs more to the total before getting bundled out.
Pacer Akash, whom Sarfaraz Khan carted around for five fours in a row the previous day, found his mojo to add the scalps of Washington Sundar and Saini to complete a five-wicket haul (5/56).
The spell will keep his name floating among the contenders when the selectors sit together soon to pick up squad for two-match Test series against Bangladesh.
