Sharad Pawar had no role in my 1998 Akola Lok Sabha seat win, says Prakash Ambedkar

Last week, after Ambedkar announced his party’s tie-up with AIMIM, Pawar had said that Ambedkar’s decision would help the BJP. In reply, Ambedkar had asked Pawar to explain the secular credentials of NCP. He had claimed that NCP had publicly declared its support to the BJP government after the 2014 Maharashtra elections. “Pawar is secular but not his party,” Ambedkar had said.

In reply, Pawar had said: “Ambedkar should known my credentials. It was my support that helped Ambedkar win the 1998 Lok Sabha seat from Akola.”

Speaking to mediapersons on Monday, Ambedkar said: ‘I would like to state that Pawar is lying. There is no truth when he says that his support helped my win in 1998 Akola Lok Sabha seat.”

“I am intrigued… why Pawar is lying. The fact is I had made a pact with then AICC president Sitaram Kesri… Though Pawar was then in Congress, he was nowhere in the picture. The decision related to alliances for Lok Sabha polls was taken by Kesri,” he added. “I received a message from senior Congress leader late Murli Deora, informing me that Pawar was keen to meet me,” Ambedkar said, claiming that Pawar had then come to his house to meet him. “He said that he would like to be part of negotiations between the Congress president and me (for support in polls).”

In 1999, Pawar had quit Congress to formed NCP. “…In 1999, in the Akola constituency, the NCP candidate contested against me. He got around 1.25 lakh votes,” said Ambedkar.