Ajit Pawar ‘still waiting to be CM’, says no ‘yog’ till now

Embattled Ajit Pawar has been in electoral politics for more than four decades. He has been deputy CM on umpteen occasions; in fact, he set a new record. Taking over the political reins of the state appears to be a distant dream as he has missed the bus on several occasions.
After Vasantrao Naik, who was the CM for a record time, it was Ajit Pawar's uncle and political mentor Sharad Pawar who held the post for a record period, which was broken by Vilasrao Deshmukh. Now, Devendra Fadnavis has created a new record.

At a public event, Ajit Pawar made known his ambition to become the CM in the presence of Fadnavis and former CMs Narayan Rane and Ashok Chavan. He said it was his strong desire to become the CM, but he missed the bus, there was no ‘yog', chance, and he is still waiting for the opportunity.

In 1999, he had the opportunity to become the CM, but then the formula was that the party with the most legislators would get the post. Since Congress had the maximum seats, Deshmukh was selected as CM. In the 2009 elections, NCP secured more seats than Congress. It appeared then that Ajit Pawar would take on the mantle.
But, an understanding was reached that while the post would be given to Congress, NCP would get key posts, including home, and additional portfolios. A helpless Ajit Pawar accepted the new formula. He later publicly said the NCP leadership had made a mistake in accepting it.
NCP leaders later admitted that to it was done to keep Ajit Pawar away from the CM post. In view of the unprecedented mandate for BJP this time, he will have to wait for longer to achieve the goal.
His desire to be CM prompted Sena (UBT) leader Vinayak Raut to say the deputy CM should come back to MVA if he wants the post.
New CP's big task
Two years ago, when Deven Bharti was appointed special commissioner of police, it was a foregone conclusion he would take over the reins of Mumbai police from Vivek Phansalkar. A 1994-batch IPS officer, Bharti made his presence felt wherever he was posted.
Whether in Delhi or any part of the state, he always maintained professional integrity. As JCP (law and order), Bharti was instrumental in creating his own network in all 99-odd police stations. He knew the pulse of the people as well as his own staff. He was instrumental in the 26/11 attacks probe.
After MVA was elected to power, he moved very close to Fadnavis, following which he was branded a member of the ‘DF' team and had to pay a heavy price. A month after Uddhav Thackeray took over govt's reins, more than half a dozen IPS officers, including Bharti, were shunted out.
He was then shifted to the insignificant Maharashtra State Security Corporation. The biggest challenge before Bharti will be to make the presence of Mumbai police felt and let people know that is the leader of the force.