"It is not acceptable to society"Ajit Pawar explains why it was a mistake to abandon his family

Bombay:

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has again admitted his “mistake” in dividing the party and family, this time to prevent the daughter of a party leader from switching over to her uncle's camp and contesting against her father.

State minister Dharmarao Baba Atram's daughter Bhagyashree is apparently all set to join the Sharad Pawar faction and contest from Aheri against Atram.

Addressing a public meeting held in Gadchiroli today, Ajit Pawar said, “I want to tell them that even now, do not make such a mistake. Stay with your father. No one can love his daughter as much as a father. If you do that, you will create a divide in your own house.”

That way of acting, he said, “is not correct” because “it is not acceptable to society.”

“We have also gained experience in this context and now I have understood my mistake and I accept it,” he added.

Pawar Junior, who split from his uncle Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party and joined the BJP and Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena last year, has made multiple comments about his “mistake” since the Lok Sabha elections.

His party had taken a beating, and voters were firmly behind Sharad Pawar.

Not only did his wife Sunetra Pawar lose the contest to her cousin Supriya Sule from Baramati, but his faction of the party managed to win only one seat out of the four it contested.

Last month, Mr Pawar had admitted that it was a mistake to frame his wife against his sister.

Politics should not be allowed into the home, Pawar told a Marathi news channel.

“I love all my sisters. Politics should not be allowed into homes. I made a mistake by fielding Sunetra against my sister. This should not have happened. But the parliamentary committee (of the NCP) took a decision. Now I feel it was a mistake,” Ajit Pawar had said, sparking speculation about a possible rapprochement.