Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray has praised Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar as an honest and able administrator and said he handled his departments very well when he was part of the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.
Thackeray, who headed the MVA government (November 2019 to June 2022), had met Pawar at his office here last week after the latter joined the Eknath Shinde-led government as a deputy chief minister on July 2 following a split in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
Pawar was deputy chief minister in the Thackeray cabinet and handled the key finance department, among others.
In the Shinde-led government too, the rebel NCP leader has been entrusted with the finance and planning department.
"He (Ajit Pawar) works honestly. He handled administration and his department well (under MVA regime). And I thought in the existing quackery (apparently referring to the Shinde government) if something good can be done by this man," the former CM said in an interview whose first part was published in Shiv Sena (UBT) mouthpiece 'Saamana' on Wednesday.
During the last week's meeting, Thackeray had asked Pawar to do good work for people as he now has the keys to the treasury in his role as the state finance minister.
The Thackeray-led Sena (UBT) is part of the opposition alliance MVA which also comprises the Congress and the NCP faction led by party founder Sharad Pawar.
