Supriya Sule and senior leader Praful Patel as working presidents of the party on June 10.
Pune (Maharashtra):
Newly appointed working president of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Supriya Sule, on Sunday refuted the claims about her cousin Ajit Pawar of ‘being unhappy’ after her elevation, and termed them as ‘gossip’.
On the NCP foundation day on June 10, party chief Sharad Pawar appointed Supriya Sule and senior leader Praful Patel as working presidents of the party. In addition to working as president, Ms Sule was also put in charge of Maharashtra which was being handled by Ajit Pawar.
Speaking to ANI on Sunday, Ms Sule said, “Who says he (Ajit Pawar) is not happy, has anybody asked him? Reports are gossip”.
Earlier in the day, Supriya Sule visited Pune and met several party workers. The workers also felicitated her. It was Ms Sule’s first visit to Pune after being appointed the working president of the party. Ms Sule also paid tribute to the Mahatma Gandhi statue at Gandhi Bhavan in Pune city on Sunday afternoon.
Earlier on Saturday, Ajit Pawar also dismissed reports of his discontent, adding that he is happy with the party’s decision.
“Some media reports that I am unhappy that the party did not give any responsibility to me is wrong. Our committee was formed at that time when Sharad Pawar resigned. Two decisions are to be taken at that time. The first was to request Sharad Pawar to withdraw his resignation and the second was to appoint Supriya Sule as a working President and it was suggested when the committee was formed. But the rest of the committee members said to focus on persuading Sharad Pawar to retract his resignation,” Ajit Pawar told the reporters.
He added, “Being in Democracy and respecting the majority, I decided to focus on the resignation issue because new leadership has to be strengthened and enhanced.”
Former CM Sharad Pawar made the appointments while addressing party workers at the 25th anniversary of the Foundation Day of the party, which he had formed in 1999 along with PA Sangma.
Sharad Pawar had last month resigned as the president of the party. He had subsequently withdrawn his decision after NCP’s committee on May 5 passed a resolution rejecting his resignation and requested him to continue to lead the party that he founded.
