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NCP’s Pune, Nagpur units back Sharad Pawar, Pimpri-Chinchwad with Ajit
Meeting was attended by local president Prashant Jagtap, party spokesperson Ankush Kakade, Rajya Sabha MP Vandana Chavan, Ravindra Malavadkar and other party workers
The Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP) Pune unit has passed a resolution to back the party’s national chief Sharad Pawar and affirmed that the party, led by the senior Pawar, is the “real” one. While in Nagpur, party’s local body and rural units passed resolution supporting Sharad Pawar, the Pimpri-Chinchwad local unit office-bearers have expressed their backing to Ajit Pawar.
In Pune, the resolution was passed at a meeting on Tuesday attended by local president Prashant Jagtap, party spokesperson Ankush Kakade, Rajya Sabha MP Vandana Chavan, Ravindra Malavadkar and other party workers while some of the NCP city unit members were absent.
The resolution, a copy of which was shared by Kakade, criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for engaging in “dirty politics” and claimed that the saffron party understands that its “desired” objective cannot be achieved without undermining the NCP. The meeting was organised after Ajit Pawar, and eight other NCP MLAs, including Chhagan Bhujbal and Hasan Mushrif, were sworn in as ministers in the Eknath Shinde cabinet
The resolution acknowledged that the NCP is currently facing a challenging situation. It highlighted that although the party, which was founded by Sharad Pawar, is celebrating its silver jubilee year, some leaders within the party have taken conflicting stances, causing confusion among the public.
The resolution praised senior Pawar for nurturing several generations of leaders in politics and providing them with various posts and positions. However, it expressed disappointment that some of these leaders remained ungrateful.
Furthermore, the resolution argued that a politics of vendetta has been ongoing in the country since 2014, and the recent developments, referring to Ajit Pawar’s decision to join the Shiv Sena-BJP government, are part of that political landscape.
It affirmed the NCP’s support for Sharad Pawar, stating that the party would stand firmly behind him and abide by any decision he makes. The resolution declared that the Pune NCP is in complete solidarity with Sharad Pawar and expressed unwavering faith in the party under his leadership.
Even as some of the workers and office-bearers skipped the meeting, Jagtap said, “Most of the party cadre is with Sharad Pawar and the party had passed the resolution for same.”
One of the senior members on condition of anonymity said, “Those who do not want to contest elections were present for the meeting, others will take decision after getting their voters’ feedback.”
A former corporator said, “We are with Sharad Pawar by mind, but confused what to do before joining any of the camp.”
Another party member, with legal background, said, “The main agenda of Tuesday’s meeting was not to check who is with whom but to complete the legal process. Now, it is official that the party’s city unit is with Sharad Pawar. This resolution will help for any legal battle in future.”
Along with the NCP city unit, Pune district president Pradip Garatkar also called a meeting of district office-bearers of the party.
Garatkar said, “Except five taluka heads, all were present. But we are not able to decide whom to support. The party workers are confused. They have great respect for Sharad Pawar, but are hoping that Ajit Pawar becoming the deputy chief minister will help their political career.”
The NCP’s Nagpur city unit led by Duneshwar Pethe passed a resolution that the unit has complete confidence in senior Pawar’s leadership, while leaders and workers of the party’s district (rural) unit also held a meeting under senior leader Anil Deshmukh and passed a resolution to the same effect.
An NCP leader close to Ajit Pawar said, party has only one MLA Anna Bansode from Pimpri-Chinchwad and he is openly with Ajit Pawar camp. “Given that Ajit Pawar has been controlling Pimpri-Chinchwad’s politics for years, it is obvious that the political unit of the party in this industrial town will remain with him,” said the leader requesting anonymity.
