Senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar on Wednesday appealed to the party leadership to relieve him of the responsibility as Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly and assign him any role in the party organisation.
Pawar came up with this demand at the 24th Foundation Day event of the Nationalist Congress Party held in Mumbai. In a remark that could fuel fresh speculation, Pawar said, "I am told that I don't act tough as the leader of the opposition".
"I was never interested to work as Leader of Opposition but accepted the role on demand of the party MLAs," he said. Pawar said it is up to NCP leadership to decide on his demand.
"Assign me any post in the party organisation, and I will do complete justice to whatever responsibility I am entrusted with," he added.
Pawar took charge as the Leader of the Opposition last July after the MVA government, in which he was deputy chief minister, collapsed due to a rebellion in Shiv Sena.
Notably, NCP chief Sharad Pawar recently entrusted the responsibility of Maharashtra to his daughter and MP Supriya Sule by appointing her as a working president. Praful Patel is another working president for other states.