New Delhi: “The mutiny by Ajit Pawar was not at all shocking,” said Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, adding that he was aware of it.In an interview to the News Indian Express, Pawar said that the second-rung leadership that joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was pressurising him to agree to joining the saffron party. And it was going for a long time, he added.“However, I kept refusing because I cannot take such a big decision alone without consulting our party. I take everyone into confidence before taking major decisions that will have long-term impact on party politics. I have to respect my cadre. Therefore, we did take a different decision and refused to go with those who aligned with the BJP,” he told the newspaper.The veteran politician said that in a democracy, everybody is free to take a different stand, and added that the process to rebuild the party network has already started.“Ajit may have taken the party MLAs, but the cadre of the party is intact and remains with us. We are very much here, so we will focus on strengthening the party,” he told the daily.He further said that he did not pay much attention to grooming the third-generation leadership in the party.“The mutiny showed the reality: We failed to fill a big generation gap in the party on time. We neglected this big space; we could have given more attention to it. The leadership potential and active youth committed to secular and progressive ideology would have filled this gap easily. However, it has also given us an opportunity to fill this leadership gap,” he said.Also read: Full Text: ‘A New Political Innings for Sharad Pawar, Without Any Stalwarts by His Side Now’Opposition unityPawar said that opposition unity is not easy, referring to the political rivalry between several parties and the Congress in many states.“We all realise that we need to stay united if we want to defeat the BJP. There are some practical difficulties we cannot ignore. For example, in the West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee’s TMC [Trinamool Congress] and Congress are the main political rivals. In Kerala, the communists and Congress are rivals. If these issues are not sorted out, then we need to look at opening the window of unity post-elections. We have to prepare for different types of political scenarios,” he said.He added that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi does serious politics, but unfortunately he was not taken seriously by the people. However, after the Bharat Jodo Yatra, people have started to understand his importance in terms of connecting with him. And this is a positive change, he said.Regional leaders cannot be ignored if the opposition wants to come to power, said the veteran politician. He said that there’s no doubt the BJP is an important party, but it has little presence in several states such as Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, Delhi, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Himachal Pradesh.And regional parties are a major stumbling block on its way to victory in parliamentary elections, he added.“The BJP is using all forces and resources to divide and rule. Regional parties are a formidable force. Due to these parties, the BJP is struggling to expand its footprint across the country,” he told the daily.
