Jayant Patil likely to remain state chief despite NCP rejig

Pawar wants the party to be fully prepared for the upcoming elections and has decided on a reshuffle by holding organisational elections in the next two to three months. The directives were issued in a core committee meeting held at Y B Chavan Centre on Wednesday

MUMBAI: Even as the NCP plans a rejig, elections for the post of state unit president are unlikely to be held, and the current incumbent Jayant Patil is likely to stay on. NCP insiders said that party supremo Sharad Pawar did not want to replace Patil, given the widespread speculations about senior leader Ajit Pawar planning to forge an alliance with the BJP, and wanted to tighten his grip over the party organisation.

NCP insiders said that party supremo Sharad Pawar did not want to replace Jayant Patil, given the widespread speculations about senior leader Ajit Pawar planning to forge an alliance with the BJP, and wanted to tighten his grip over the party organisation. (Bhushan Koyande/HT Photo)

Pawar wants the party to be fully prepared for the upcoming elections and has decided on a reshuffle by holding organisational elections in the next two to three months. The directives were issued in a core committee meeting held at Y B Chavan Centre on Wednesday.

“As per my information, elections will be held for the posts of tehsil president and district president but not others. The party will also appoint booth-level workers in all the constituencies within two months,” said Mahesh Tapase, chief spokesperson, NCP.

Patil was appointed head of the state NCP unit back in April 2018 in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections. “The term of the state chief is three years but it is unlikely that Pawar will remove Patil from this position. He will continue to hold it till the upcoming elections scheduled for next year,” said a senior NCP leader. Added another leader: “He is a close confidante, and Pawar saheb would like to tighten his grip on the organisation by having him continue as Maharashtra chief, especially against the backdrop of speculations about Ajit.”

Patil was chosen by Pawar to take over as legislative chief of the NCP soon after Ajit attempted a split in the party by forming a BJP-led coalition government with the help of a splinter group of MLAs in November 2019. Since then, Patil has not only been heading the organisation in the state but also the legislative party in the state assembly. Besides Pawar, he is the only NCP leader to have carried out a statewide tour in the name of ‘NCP Parivar Samwad Yatra’ last year.

Last year, Ajit tried to force the party leadership to conduct the overdue elections for the post of state NCP chief. He was upset with Patil, who had expressed his displeasure over Ajit’s appointment as the leader of the opposition in the state assembly—Patil too had expressed his interest in the post but Pawar had given a decision in Ajit’s favour after 36 legislators submitted a letter supporting Ajit’s candidacy in a meeting held on July 3, 2022.

Pawar had to intervene and force both leaders to call a truce. “He summoned them to Pune and said that he wanted them to work together,” said a party insider. “He told them that things were looking good for the NCP on account of the changing political situation in the state and Centre, and he did not want this opportunity wrecked because of intra-party squabbling.”