Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday said there is no “Jyotiraditya Scindia-like” figure in ranks of ruling allies in the state and asked the BJP to keep a watch on its MLAs who were not present on the assembly. In his reply to budget demands, Pawar, who holds the finance portfolio, also commented on BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar’s startling revelation in the house on Thursday it was his party that ditched the one-time ally Shiv Sena last year and that it was a mistake.
“There is no pardon for the mistake,” Pawar said, looking in the direction of Chief Minister and Sena president Uddhav Thackeray leading to laughter in the house. The Shiv Sena and the BJP parted ways after the assembly elections last year due to differences over power- sharing.
The Sena later joined hands with the Congress and the NCP, its political rivals then, to form government. Pawar said there is no “Jyotiraditya Scindia-like figure” in the Maha Vikas Aghadi, the ruling alliance consisting of the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress, and asked the BJP to look after its own flock as there could be such a person in its own ranks.
