Former NCP leader Bhagirath Bhalke wants to return to party, meets Sharad Pawar

Bhalke, who had quit the NCP to join the Bharat Rashtra Samithi in June 2023, wants to return to the party’s faction headed by Sharad Pawar and contest the Pandharpur constituency in the Maharashtra assembly elections later this year

Mumbai: Former Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Bhagirath Bhalke met party founder Sharad Pawar at his Baramati residence, Govindbaug, on Sunday, just over a year after joining the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in June 2023. Bhalke wants to return to the party and contest the Pandharpur constituency in the Maharashtra assembly elections later this year.

Former NCP leader Bhagirath Bhalke wants to return to party, meets Sharad Pawar

Bhalke is the son of former NCP leader Bharat Bhalke, a three-term MLA from the Pandharpur assembly constituency in Solapur district. Bharat Bhalke died in November 2020, after which the NCP fielded his son Bhagirath in the by-polls held five months later. He lost the by-election in a close contest with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Samadhan Autade by 3,733 votes. About two years later, he quit the party to join K Chandrashekhar Rao’s BRS due to “the party’s failure to address the issues we had voiced in the last two years”.

However, Bhagirath’s stint at BRS seems to have lasted just about 12 months. The leader posted several pictures of his meeting with Pawar on his Facebook page, saying he had taken the veteran leader’s blessings. When contacted, Bhagirath told HT that he had worked for Praniti Shinde, the Congress and Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) candidate for the Solapur Lok Sabha constituency, following Pawar’s directives.

“Our assembly constituency gave a lead of 45,000 votes to Praniti Shinde in the Lok Sabha elections. Today, I met Pawar saheb and requested him to give the candidature for the Pandharpur assembly seat in the upcoming polls as I had done what he asked,” Bhagirath said. According to NCP (SP) insiders, Pawar has assured Bhagirath that he will speak to the MVA allies and take a decision accordingly.

Bhagirath’s imminent return to the party comes amid speculation that a few MLAs from the Ajit Pawar faction are also in touch with Sharad Pawar ahead of the assembly polls. “[Sharad] Pawar saheb has already clarified that he is ready to take back those who left the party in the past,” said a senior NCP leader, who requested anonymity. “In this backdrop, if he is meeting Bhagirath, then it means he is comfortable taking him back in the NCP (SP).”

Sharad Pawar had recently changed his stand on welcoming rebel MLAs back into his camp, saying there’s no issue taking back leaders whose return will strengthen the party and encourage workers. However, he had clarified that a decision would be taken on a case-by-case basis.

“There cannot be a generalised statement on this. All our colleagues will be taken into confidence. Their suggestions will be considered and respected,” he had said on June 25, the day NCP (SP) welcomed former BJP MP Suryakanta Patil back into the party.

Solapur is one of the districts in western Maharashtra where the Pawar-led NCP won four out of 11 seats in the recently held Lok Sabha elections. The western Maharashtra region used to be an NCP bastion till 2014, before being taken over by the BJP in the last decade. However, even the BJP could only win two seats in the region in the 2024 LS polls.