Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Friday said Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar's entry into the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state posed no threat to him.
Parties split when hard-working workers are neglected, he said while commenting on Ajit Pawar's rebellion against his uncle and NCP chief Sharad Pawar.
"Such things happen when meritorious party workers are sidelined. Ajit Pawar has himself said that it was Sharad Pawar who had wanted an alliance with the BJP in the past....in 2017, 2019 but did a U-turn later," Shinde told DD News in an interview.
He also pointed out that Sharad Pawar himself had rebelled against then chief minister Vasantdada Patil (in 1978) and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi (in 1999).
Dismissing speculation that he was about to be replaced as chief minister, Shinde said these were baseless rumours which cause him no "tension", and the "higher ups" will take appropriate decision.
The Shiv Sena led by him and the BJP are bound by ideology, he said.
"Now with a third partner, we have to work together strongly and make Narendra Modi prime minister again in 2024.....We have to win Maharashtra with more than 45 (out of 48 Lok Sabha) seats," Shinde said.
Ajit Pawar joined the government because of the development track record of his government, he added.
"Modi and (Amit) Shah have made me chief minister, and now with Ajit Pawar joining the government, we have become stronger....lot of work has been done in the constituencies of our MLAs in the last one year," he said.
