Lok Sabha elections 2024: Don't know who PM Modi was referring to, says Ajit Pawar on 'bhatakti aatma' jibe

Ajit Pawar. File Pic

Days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi reportedly targeted Sharad Pawar with a 'wandering soul' jibe, his estranged nephew and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Wednesday said that he didn't know who was the target of PM Modi's diatribe, according to the PTI.

PM Modi had said that a "bhatakti aatma" in Maharashtra spoils others' good work if it does not manage success, as per the PTI.

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"Though I was present at the PM's rally (in Pune), I don't know whom the remarks were referred to," Ajit Pawar told reporters on Wednesday, reported the PTI.

When I get an opportunity to share the dais with the PM in the next rally, I will certainly ask him who was the target of his remarks and then I will answer your query, he said when asked about PM Modi's remarks, as per the PTI.

"Some 'wandering souls' in Maharashtra ushered in an era of political instability 45 years ago for their ambitions," PM Narendra Modi had said, the news agency reported.

He was apparently referring to Sharad Pawar's rebellion against the then chief minister of Maharashtra Vasantdada Patil in 1978, leading to the collapse of the government.

Meanwhile, hitting back at PM Modi, the Nationalist Congress Party founder Sharad Pawar had on Tuesday said that his soul is restless for the cause of farmers and the common man, and he is ready to be restless "100 times" to highlight their plight.

Notably, Ajit Pawar had rebelled against his political mentor Sharad Pawar last year and joined the Mahayuti government comprising the Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with his loyalist MLAs.

Ajit Pawar had staked claim to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) name and its political symbol, a clock, which was allotted to him by the Election Commission of India.

The Sharad Pawar-led NCP chose to be called as Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) and was allotted the 'man blowing Turha' symbol ahead of the the Lok Sabha elections 2024.

The NCP (SP) is highlighting "betrayal" by Ajit Pawar in its campaigning for Lok Sabha elections 2024 with 83-year-old Sharad Pawar hitting the ground running and conducting rallies across Maharashtra, the PTI reported.

(with PTI inputs)