Pawar loyalist Ashok Gawde likely to ditch NCP for Shinde

Three years after refusing to join the exodus when MLA Ganesh Naik took nearly the entire Navi Mumbai unit of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) with him to the Bharatiya Janata Party, Sharad Pawar loyalist Ashok Gawde is likely to jump on the Eknath Shinde bandwagon

Three years after refusing to join the exodus when MLA Ganesh Naik took nearly the entire Navi Mumbai unit of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) with him to the Bharatiya Janata Party, Sharad Pawar loyalist Ashok Gawde is likely to jump on the Eknath Shinde bandwagon.

Ashok Gawde HT Archives

Gawde had called a meeting of his supporters on Wednesday to chart out his future course of action. It was, however, postponed to Thursday due to heavy rain. The development comes a day after he was replaced as the city unit chief by former corporator Namdeo Bhagat, who joined the NCP last year after defecting from Shiv Sena.

He is expected to take some former corporators, including his daughter Sapna Gawde, with him and a decision on which could be taken on Thursday. This will help Shinde consolidate his position before the civic elections in the state.

When contacted, Gawde said he would make a statement only after meeting his supporters.

However, in a message to his supporters on social media, he said, “There is groupism in the local unit of the party and some senior party workers for their vested interests are committing injustice to me. I will hold a meeting of party workers who have confidence in me. I plan to discuss the future course of action and take a decision accordingly. I am sure they will guide me in taking further political decisions.”

Former minister and NCP leader Jitendra Awhad is confident that Gawde is set to sever ties with the party. “I had asked Gawde if he was quitting the party and he said he would speak to his supporters and decide. I said it meant that he had made up his mind to which he said he would leave the party.”

If he was to quit the party then they would have no other option but to have a replacement, Awhad said. “I spoke to Sharad Pawar, Ajit Pawar and Jayant Patil on the issue and told them that since he was leaving the party we would need a new president. Hence, we decided to have Bhagat as the new Navi Mumbai unit chief.”

Prashant Patil, NCP state general secretary, claimed that Gawde did nothing to build the party after he was given the charge following Naik’s exit. “Despite repeated instructions, local units were not formed and the party is suffering because of it. Now since he has informed Awhad that he is leaving, we have the experienced Bhagat as the chief, who will aggressively lead the party.”

Gawde along with his daughter Sapna and Sangita Borade stayed back when the rest of the 52 corporators left with Naik in September 2019. “I am what I am because of Sharad Pawar and the NCP. I will not ditch him when the party is facing such a difficult time,” he had said.

Who is Ashok Gawde?

A long-time Sharad Pawar loyalist, Ashok Gawde stood by him when the NCP was virtually wiped out in Navi Mumbai on Ganesh Naik’s exit in September 2019. The party rewarded him with the post of the city president. He was also given the Belapur assembly ticket which he lost to the BJP’s Manda Mhatre by 43,597 votes. He had earlier won the civic election by a mere three votes defeating a Shiv Sena candidate. Gawde was in the news in February when the police registered a case against him for his derogatory comments against deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’s wife Amruta Fadnavis. Gawde later expressed regret over his statements.