Sharad Pawar holds rally in Chhagan Bhujbal's constituency

NASHIK: Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday apologised to the people of Yeola, which is the constituency of expelled dissident leader Chhagan Bhujbal.

Formerly a key aide of the NCP patriarch, Bhujbal was among the 8 NCP rebels who joined the NDA government of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, along with Sharad Pawar's nephew and former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar.

Addressing a rally at Yeola on Saturday, Pawar senior said, "This rally is not about making any allegations against anyone. I am here to apologise to all of you." "I regret making a wrong decision (in fielding Bhujbal from this constituency). You trusted me and voted for my party but my decision turned out to be wrong. So, it is my duty to apologise to you. Next time, when I come here, I promise I won't repeat this mistake," the NCP chief said at the rally.

"A few days back, PM Modi pointed fingers at the NCP and the Congress in a rally. I want to tell him, if we do anything wrong, act against us. If we do anything wrong, we are ready to be punished. However, this is a fight for the Lok Sabha and, we, the Opposition, are ready for it," the NCP chief said.

On Ajit Pawar taunting him about his age and advising him to retire from politics, the NCP chief said while he was against making personal remarks against anyone, if he or fellow leaders in his faction made similar remarks, the others won't like it.

Maharashtra was rocked by a fresh political quake after Ajit Pawar split the NCP down the middle and joined the NDA government in the state along with 8 fellow MLAs and top leaders, including Bhujbal, Praful Patel, and Hasan Mushrif. While Ajit Pawar took oath as the deputy chief minister in the Shinde government, his fellow dissidents were also sworn in as ministers.