Posters describing Jayant Patil as future CM surprise NCP

Posters put up outside the Napean Sea Road residence of Maharashtra NCP chief Jayant Patil have not only led to raised eyebrows in political circles but also brought the brewing tussle between Patil and Ajit Pawar, Leader of the Opposition, to the fore

Posters put up outside the Napean Sea Road residence of Maharashtra NCP chief Jayant Patil have not only led to raised eyebrows in political circles but also brought the brewing tussle between Patil and Ajit Pawar, Leader of the Opposition, to the fore.

Mumbai, India – Feb 16, 2023: Maharashtra NCP president Jayant Patil supporters put up banners and flexes of birthday outside NCP party office, at Ballard Pier, in Mumbai, India, on Thursday, Feb 16, 2023. (Photo by Bhushan Koyande/HT Photo)

The posters, also put up outside the NCP’s Ballard Pier headquarters on the eve of Patil’s 61st birthday, described him as the would-be chief minister of Maharashtra, leading to another round of speculation about the widening rift between him and Pawar. Significantly, they appeared just a week after NCP MLA Nilesh Lanke appealed to party workers to strive hard to make Ajit Pawar CM.

Patil tried to downplay the incident by attributing it to “overexcited” supporters, and added that he had played no part in it. so. “Party workers sometimes act in excitement,” he said. “I did not ask anyone to do this. In fact, I have not seen the posters and came to know about them only from media reports.”

A section of NCP leaders, however, believes that supporters would not act on their own without the backing of their leader. “Followers don’t go to this extent unless they are directed to,” a senior leader pointed out. “This has come when NCP MLAs are rallying behind Ajit Pawar and backing him for the chief ministership.”

Patil, though he denied any hand in the incident, had expressed his desire to become chief minister in January 2022. “Anyone who has been in politics for so long would like to be CM one day, but the decision of Pawar saheb is final for us,” he had said when quizzed on his ambition. “Yes, there is a desire, but going by the current situation where we have only 54 MLAs, I don’t believe it is possible for the party to claim the post.”

Patil, who is considered to be a Sharad Pawar loyalist, was appointed as the NCP legislative party leader after Pawar’s nephew, Ajit, defected with a splinter group of MLAs and formed an alliance government with the BJP in November 2019, which fell apart just three days later. Besides the senior Pawar, he is the only NCP leader who carried out a statewide tour, the ‘NCP Parivar Samwad Yatra’, in 2021.

Patil was upset when Pawar overlooked him and chose his nephew for the post of Leader of the Opposition last year. He had expressed his interest in the position to the senior Pawar, but the decision was made after 36 legislators submitted a letter supporting Ajit Pawar’s candidature for the post. Since then, the tension between Ajit Pawar and Jayant Patil has surfaced on many occasions.

The rise of Supriya Sule in the NCP in recent years is being viewed as a sign that Pawar has been preparing his daughter for more significant responsibilities. Sule is part of the top brass of the party and has a say in major decisions.