MUMBAI: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar appealed to the people to support him as he has stuck to his party ever since entering politics and said that the allegations of corruption against him were never proven. He said that the welfare of the people is his top priority and called the people his 'only party.' "Whatever I do, people's welfare is my top priority. I always think how people will benefit,” Pawar said in a video message.

In the same 10-minute-long video statement, Pawar also slammed the opposition and said not a single graft allegation against has been proven true. "Corruption allegations against me have not yet been proved. They will never be," he asserted, accusing his critics of indulging in 'dirty politics' and urging people to ignore politicians who only make speeches and instead, vote for those who work. "Those who work are criticised more," he said.

In July 2024, Pawar had rebelled against his uncle and NCP founder Sharad Pawar and aligned with the the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena to become Maharashtra deputy chief minister in the Mahayuti alliance. Later, he got the party name and symbol, leading to the outfit under Sharad Pawar being known as NCP (SP). Sharad Pawar's group was given the name NCP (SP) for his faction of the party.

The NCP chief's message pleading with the people to support him, comes in light of the Mahayuti alliance's dismal showing in the recently concluded state's Lok Sabha elections, winning only 17 of the state’s 48 seats. The BJP’s tally came down to 9 from the 23 ( that it won in 2019). While the Sena got 7 seats and NCP won only 1. Matter of fact Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra was defeated by Supriya Sule, the daughter of NCP (SP) supremo Sharad Pawar, by a margin of 1,58,333 votes. 

On the other hand, the Maha Vikas Aghadi consisting of the Congress Party, Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena (UBT), and Sharad Pawar's NCP (SP) won 30 seats and emerging as the bigger bloc from the state.