Nationalist Congress Party factions fight again

DyCM Ajit Pawar. File pic/Atul Kamble

When the talks of their reunion are still afloat, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) factions are in the news over the possibility of Lok Sabha MPs getting lured into leaving the Sharad Pawar group. The factions are at loggerheads making claims about each other.

NCP (Ajit Pawar) State President Sunil Tatkare denied giving seven rival NCP Lok Sabha members an offer to join the ruling party, but he said he would reveal everything at an appropriate time. One of the Sharad Pawar faction MPs, Amar Kale, claimed that a former leader of NCP (SP), who is now in the Congress, had contacted him and others about joining the NDA and NCP (AP).

NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar. File pic/Shadab Khan

Speculations have been rife for some days that the NCP (SP) was on the verge of breaking. The party had won eight Lok Sabha seats in the 2024 general elections from Maharashtra, while the rival camp got only one seat. The situation reversed in the state Assembly elections when Ajit Pawar led his faction to a fabulous gain. His party along with senior partners BJP and Shiv Sena (Shinde) won over 230 out of 288 seats setting a new record for any pre-election coalition. Since then, the rumours of NCP (SP)'s split have been floating unabated.

If seven out of eight MPs split from the party the move will get a legal sanctity. They can form their separate group or merge with the Ajit Pawar camp. When asked by reporters, Tatkare denied making any such move. He said he could not comment on an offer that was made by a leader (Sonia Doohan) who didn't belong to his party. "Doohan is not in our party and she has not been given any authority by us."

Tatkare, who is his faction's sole Lok Sabha member, said that the MPs met each very frequently at the functions in Delhi and discussed a lot of things. "I haven't contacted any MP [for the purpose of defection]. I can say that the defeat in the Assembly elections has proved where they ]the rival faction] stood. I have been in politics for 40 years, and I have never used any such words [that showed disrespect to the seniors like Sharad Pawar and his Lok Sabha MP daughter Supriya Sule]," he said when asked about the offer that the MPs should leave ‘baap lek' (the father and daughter) behind to join hands with Ajit Pawar.

It was said that Sule had talked to Praful Patel, the rival faction leader after she knew of the offer made to her party colleagues. "I don't know what transpired between them [Sule and Patel]. However, I will talk about who said what and when, at an appropriate time. I will also talk about what efforts were made to align the [undivided] NCP with the BJP between 2014 and 2024," he added.

Kale's claim

Wardha MP, Amar Kale told reporters that it wasn't any responsible NCP leader who had made an offer, but it was Sonia Doohan, who had called him and others to convince him (them) to join the NDA and NCP (AP). "She said despite being in the Opposition for five years, the MPs would have to give results in their respective constituencies and win the elections again. She said the MPs will not get funds for developmental work if they continue to be on the opposite benches. She said the only way to get funds was to go with the NDA and NCP," claimed Kale, adding that he had complained about this to Sharad Pawar and Sule.

Doohan came into the limelight after she had played a stellar role in bringing back NCP's legislators to Mumbai from Haryana, where they were kept under the watch. It happened during Ajit Pawar's first rebellion, an attempt to form a government with the BJP in 2019. The government fell within three days. Doohan became a trusted aide of Sharad Pawar who made her in charge of the party's Delhi office. She stayed with the veteran leader after the 2023 party split. However, she joined the Congress last year blaming her exit on Sule.

‘Nobody's leaving'

NCP (SP) senior leader Jitendra Awhad informed the media persons on Wednesday that Sharad Pawar had told the rank and file that they should not take things seriously. "Pawar Saheb said it is baseless and rumours [nobody is leaving]."

According to Awhad, the rumours were planned to destabilise his party. "We know who they are. One is the BJP and the other is those who ask for leaving the father and daughter. This is not our culture. They talk of unification [of two factions] and yet invite these guys [to their fold]. Why?" asked Awhad.