The ‘frustration’ among BJP workers in Maharashtra about the party’s alliance with Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) came to the fore again with Sudarshan Chaudhari, the party’s Pune district vice-president, demanding that the NCP be removed from the Mahayuti coalition. The demand was made at a meeting attended by BJP MLA Rahul Kul.
“BJP workers would prefer to go out of power in the upcoming Assembly elections rather than be in power in an alliance with Ajit Pawar. What is the point of being in power? We will work and he will become the boss and order us around…we don’t want such power,” Chaudhari said at the party meeting held in Shirur recently. A video of Chaudhari making the statement is now being widely shared on social media.
“Why should we work to make Ajit Pawar our boss? He will become guardian minister and crush us. This is the feeling of BJP workers from booth level to tehsil level,” said Chaudhari.
In the video, Chaudhari says that BJP workers who fought against him for years are now forced to work under him as he is the guardian minister of Pune district. He also questioned the rationale behind aligning with Pawar who has “done gross injustice to BJP workers and leaders”.
In the video, he is seen telling the leadership that if they wanted to consider party workers’ feelings, they should not ally with Pawar for the upcoming Assembly polls.
Chaudhari further said that BJP leaders Rahul Kul and Yogesh Tilekar would have become ministers but this was blocked by Ajit Pawar. “When (BJP leaders) Abasaheb Sonawane and Shyam Gawde approached Ajit Pawar for funds, Pawar insulted them and dismissed them offering only 10 per cent of funds. So what is the point of being in power in such a situation?” Chaudhari is seen asking in the video.
Since the Mahayuti’s – the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP alliance – poor performance in the Lok Sabha elections, second-rung party leaders in the state are involved in a blame game with BJP leaders blaming NCP for the poor performance and the latter claiming that BJP workers did not work for its candidates.
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