There Is 'No Alternative' To Modi: Ajit Pawar Praises PM Days After Joining Shinde Govt

After inaugurating his NCP faction's new office in Mumbai, Maharashtra's new deputy CM Ajit Pawar said that the country is marching ahead under PM Narendra Modi's leadership.

New Delhi: Maharashtra's new deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Tuesday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that there is 'no other leader' like him. After inaugurating his Nationalist Congress Party faction's new office in Mumbai, he said that the country is 'marching ahead' under Modi's leadership.

"There is no leader like Modi. There is no alternative to him," Ajit Pawar, the nephew of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, said. 

"We have joined the (Eknath Shinde) government to support him," he added.

"We all have decided to work together. There is no question of disgruntlement," he said when asked if some members of the Shinde group are unhappy over his inclusion in the ministry.

Earlier on Sunday, Ajit Pawar and eight other MLAs of the Nationalist Congress Party joined the Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra. Subsequently, Sharad Pawar on Monday sacked the party's working president Praful Patel and general secretary and treasurer Sunil Tatkare -- who have sided with Ajit Pawar in his revolt -- for engaging in 'anti-party' activities.

Later, the NCP supremo also issued notices to Patel and Tatkare, who is also a Lok Sabha MP, and accused them of facilitating and spearheading defections of nine MLAs without his knowledge and consent.

In his letter, the senior Pawar wrote, "Your action of supporting Shri Ajit Pawar and eight other MLAs who have sworn oath as ministers in violation of the party's direction and mandate amount to anti-party activities".

"I remove your names from the membership register of the party in view of your actions," he said.

The party is initiating appropriate action for formal disqualification of Patel and Tatkare as MPs under the 10th Schedule of the Constitution, the former union minister added.

The letter also stated that the 'misrepresentation of association with NCP henceforth will be illegal and unlawful' on the part of Patel and Tatkare.

The Ajit Pawar camp, however, quickly hit back and removed Maharashtra NCP president Jayant Patil and made Tatkare the new state party chief. It also asked the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker to disqualify Jayant Patil and Jitendra Awhad from membership of the House.