Ajit Pawar slams NCP MLA for call to buy Diwali goods only from Hindus

A visibly irked deputy chief minister on Saturday condemned Sangram Jagtap’s comments, stating that such remarks were unacceptable to the party

Mumbai: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president and Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Saturday slammed his party’s Ahilyanagar MLA, Sangram Jagtap, for his communally charged remarks on Friday, when he urged people to buy Diwali goods only from Hindus.

Ajit Pawar slams NCP MLA for call to buy Diwali goods only from Hindus

Addressing a rally in Solapur on Friday, Jagtap had said, “While going for Diwali shopping, I would request you all to ensure that our money, transactions, and their benefits should reach Hindus only.”

A visibly irked Pawar on Saturday condemned Jagtap’s comments, stating that such remarks were unacceptable to the party. “His statement is extremely wrong. We will send him a show-cause notice,” Pawar told reporters. However, he did not specify what further action, if any, would be taken against the MLA.

Although Ajit Pawar’s faction of the NCP is part of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Mahayuti alliance, he has consistently sought to uphold secular credentials. His core voter base overlaps with that of the opposition Congress and the NCP faction led by his uncle, Sharad Pawar. Since orchestrating the split in the NCP and joining the Mahayuti, Ajit Pawar has publicly taken a stand against his alliance partners, the BJP and Shiv Sena, on several occasions.

“The policy and stand of our party is absolutely clear. If any MLA, MP or a responsible person makes such statements, it will not be accepted by the NCP at any cost…,” said Pawar. “Maharashtra is the land of Shiv (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj), Shahu (Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj), and (Babasaheb) Ambedkar, which takes everyone along. This has been our stand forever.”

This is not the first time Jagtap has made inflammatory remarks. In June, he made a similar speech targeting Muslims, which prompted complaints from NCP leaders from the community. At the time, Pawar assured them he would address the issue. He later instructed Jagtap to refrain from making communal statements, but the MLA continued to do so and also attend events organised by right-wing Hindu groups across the state.

Pawar acknowledged this on Saturday, saying, “In the past too, I had pointed out the same thing to him and he had assured me he would change, but it appears he is not doing so. Hence, we will be issuing a show-cause notice to him.”

Jagtap, a three-term MLA from Ahilyanagar (formerly Ahmednagar), aligned himself with Ajit Pawar during the NCP split in 2023. He is the son of the late NCP MLC Arunkaka Jagtap, a point Pawar also made.

“Till Arunkaka was alive, everything was fine in Ahilyanagar. But some people have started giving us additional work. They are required to behave and speak responsibly, understanding the fact that the patronage of their father is no longer available,” Pawar said.