When are you going to stop? Ajit Pawar tells 83-year-old Sharad Pawar time to hang boots

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Wednesday said that 83-year-old Sharad Pawar should consider retiring from active politics and allow the next generation to rise.The Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar factions of the Nationalist Congress Party are holding their meetings in Yashwantrao Chavan Centre in south Mumbai and in Bhujbal Knowledge City in suburban Bandra, respectivelyThese are the first meetings involving party functionaries for both factions since Ajit Pawar and eight MLAs, including Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse Patil and Hasan Mushrif, joined the Eknath Shinde government on Sunday.Addressing party workers and functionaries during the meeting, Ajit Pawar said, "You portrayed me as a villain in front of everyone. I still have deep respect for him (Sharad Pawar)...But you tell me, IAS officers retire at 60...even in politics - BJP leaders retire at 75. You can see the example of LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi...That allows the new generation to rise..."Ajit Pawar said that his uncle should give his blessings and let the new guard take over."You (Sharad Pawar) give us your blessings....The other day, he went to YB Chavan memorial...I have also been there...but you are 83, aren't you going to stop?..Give us your blessings and we will pray that you live a long life."Talking about joining the BJP-led alliance in 2017 in Maharashtra, he said that he along with other senior leaders had attended a meeting with senior BJP leaders on Cabinet portfolio allocation but the NCP took a step back."In 2017 too we had a meeting at Varsha Bungalow. On the orders of the senior leaders of the party, Chhagan Bhujbal, Jayant Patel, I and several others had gone there. Several leaders from BJP were also there. There were discussions among us over cabinet portfolio allocation and positions of Guardian Ministers. But later our party took a step back," said the Maharashtra Deputy CM.He also blamed Sharad Pawar for NCP losing out on the chance to have a chief minister in 2004."We had more MLAs than Congress in 2004, but our senior leader allowed Congress to bag the CM's post," he said."For us, Saheb (Sharad Pawar) is a deity and we have deep respect for him," he added.Meanwhile, Election Commission of India has received a petition from Ajit Pawar staking claim to Nationalist Congress Party and party symbol.The commission has also received a caveat from Jayant Patil that they have initiated disqualification process against 9 MLAs, according to sources.With inputs from agenciesRead all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.