Pawar posted a video on social media on the lines of Prime Minister Modi's “Mann Ki Baat” speeches.

Amidst the buzz that several MLAs of Ajit Pawar's NCP were preparing to cross-vote for the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in the upcoming state MLC elections and perhaps later cross over to Sharad Pawar's NCP, Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar was seen getting into a big damage control and image building activity on Thursday.

Pawar posted a video on social media on the lines of Prime Minister Modi's “Mann Ki Baat” speeches. Pawar, usually known to stay away from the media, suddenly came out with a scripted video speech on his social media handles on Thursday morning which surprised even his supporters.

“There have been wild allegations levelled against me in the past few years. There have been attempts to damage my image and create hurdles in my path. But nothing has been proven against me. There is no evidence against me. I am innocent,” Pawar said in the video.

“I have come out with a pro-people and pro-development budget for Maharashtra state. I have brought in schemes for the farmers and for women from economically weaker sections. Still, some people are targeting me in the media. I urge people to not fall for this campaign,” Ajit added. A leader close to Pawar told the FPJ that the DCM has decided to launch a campaign to persuade some NCP leaders to reconsider their decision if they are thinking of crossing over to any other party. The FPJ had reported three days ago that five MLAs of Ajit Pawar's NCP, including two from Pune district and one each from Nashik and Ahmednagar districts, were contemplating joining Sharad Pawar's NCP in the coming weeks. Hitting back at Ajit Pawar and Mahayuti alliance, Baramati MP (SP) leader Supriya Sule said, “Ajit Pawar has said in his video that some leaders targeted him by levelling allegations of corruption.

He has to realise that these allegations were made by his current coalition partner, the BJP. It was the BJP that made these allegations so Ajit Pawar should ask his political partners what happened to those allegations and who maligned him. In the video, Pawar also claimed that he had never changed his party in his life.

“I never left the NCP. It is my party and I still am a loyal party worker. People are calling me a traitor but I have only followed what was decided by the party working committee jointly" Pawar claimed.

Pawar held a meeting of all his MLAs at his official residence Devgiri at Malabar HIll on Wednesday to convince all of them that they should not think of crossing over to any other party.

He reportedly promised them that all his MLAs would not only get development funds for their constituencies but also get their candidature back in the October 2024 assembly polls.