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Ajit Pawar faction meets Sharad Pawar, proposes to keep party united
Rebel faction of the NCP in Maharashtra meets Sharad Pawar to request him to keep the party united, no reaction from Pawar.
Mumbai: Sunday afternoon saw yet another twist to the musical chairs being played in Maharashtra politics when the rebel Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP called on Sharad Pawar at the Y B Chavan Centre. Ajit faction leaders said that they requested the senior Pawar to consider keeping the party “united”. Pawar reportedly did not react to the proposal.
Ajit was accompanied by his faction’s working president Praful Patel, deputy chairman of the assembly Narhari Zirwal and ministers Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse Patil, Hasan Mushrif, Dhananjay Munde, Sanjay Bansode and Aditi Tatkare among others. This was the second such meeting between Ajit and his uncle in the last two days. On Friday, Ajit had visited Pawar’s residence to see Pawar’s wife, Pratibha, after she underwent surgery for a minor injury.
The meeting on Sunday afternoon, which was reportedly unscheduled, went on for about an hour. Praful Patel, who is with the Ajit Pawar faction, said that they had requested Pawar to take steps to keep the party intact. “We didn’t inform him we were coming,” he said. “We met him and took his blessings, as he is our idol. We want the party to be kept united, and we requested him to consider it. He has not reacted.”
Jayant Patil, state unit chief of the NCP, while denying that there was any “proposal” from the Ajit faction, said that the party had “not taken any decision on it”. “They just spoke about efforts to keep the party intact,” he said. “Our faction has the support of 19 MLAs. If they (the rebels) wish to come back, we are always open to it. We will continue to remain in the opposition.” Soon after the meeting, the Sharad Pawar faction wrote a letter to the assembly speaker to seat all the NCP MLAs, barring the nine newly sworn-in ministers, on the opposition side.
The meeting reportedly saw much genuflection to the senior Pawar. Sports minister Sanjay Bansode and deputy speaker of the assembly Narhari Zirwal went down on their knees while taking his “blessings”. Food and civil supplies minister Chhagan Bhujbal said that Pawar “remained their god, Lord Vitthal, and should continue blessing them”.
The unusual conclave has elicited various reactions in political circles. “Ajit Pawar and other ministers who visited Sharad Pawar have been trained by the octogenarian in politics,” said senior BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar. “There is nothing wrong if they went to seek the blessings of a senior leader under whom they worked for years. It is our political culture.” Another BJP leader, however, claimed that this could be the beginning of the entire NCP joining hands with the ruling BJP. “It could well happen in the near future,” he said.
The Pawar faction, on its part, believes that by visiting Sharad Pawar, the Ajit faction was attempting to garner sympathy from the people. “This is the second visit by Ajit Pawar to his uncle in the last two days, and it has come barely two weeks after his rebellion,” said a leader. “There are two aspects to this. First, it is not easy for all of them to snap emotional ties with their leader. Secondly, people from their constituencies have reacted very disapprovingly to their splitting the party as Bhujbal and other leaders experienced. They are hoping that meeting Pawar and expressing regret for their act will make the anger subside.”
Another NCP leader opined that the overture would create confusion among the people regarding the stand of Pawar Senior on the rebellion. “People are now wondering if Sharad Pawar gave his blessings to the rebellion,” he said. “Creating such confusion helps the rebel leaders to minimise the backlash. It also helps to reduce public sympathy for Sharad Pawar.”
NCP insiders said that the Ajit faction had tried to kill several birds with one stone. “They have opened a communication channel with the NCP leadership and may continue to make other attempts to convince Pawar,” said an NCP functionary. “This will create the impression that they tried their best to keep the party united till the end, and can be used to reduce people’s sympathy for Sharad Pawar.”
Another NCP leader said that having Sharad Pawar on its side was beneficial for the rebel group in every way, as many MLAs were still not comfortable going against the senior Pawar. “Even the BJP would like to have Pawar and Ajit together in their fold, as it will help in achieving their goal of disintegrating opposition unity,” he said. Indeed, Ajit, who has been trying to convince the remaining NCP MLAs to come to his side, had told them that Pawar would give up his insistence and join them if all the MLAs crossed over to Ajit’s side.
Ajit Pawar and eight other senior leaders of the party were sworn in as ministers in the Shinde government on July 2. Although neither of the factions has provided the names of the MLAs, Sharad Pawar has the support of 19 MLAs while 34 have sided with Ajit Pawar.
