Infighting in NCP Pune unit, Ajit Pawar aide quits post

Differences in the Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP) Pune unit have come to the fore with Leader of the House in the Pune Municipal Corporation and a staunch supporter of district guardian minister Ajit Pawar, Anil Bhosale, stepping down from his post, reports Satyajit Joshi.

Differences in the Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP) Pune unit have come to the fore with Leader of the House in the Pune Municipal Corporation and a staunch supporter of district guardian minister Ajit Pawar, Anil Bhosale, stepping down from his post.

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Bhosale’s resignation was accepted on Tuesday and Nilesh Nikam appointed as his replacement. Mayor Mohansinh Rajpal said Bhosale had submitted his resignation five days ago, and they had tried to persuade him to withdraw it. “But he was in no mood to withdraw it, and we had to run the business of the House. Various elections are due on March 19. We discussed the issue with Ajit Pawar and accepted the resignation”, Rajpal said.

Bhosale was upset with the party leadership when former Pune mayor Vandana Chavan was nominated for the Legislative Council seat last week. He was an aspirant for the seat, with Ajit Pawar lobbying for him. However, a day before filing of nomination papers, Chavan’s candidature was announced by the party.

Bhosale was also an aspirant for the Assembly seat from Shivajinagar. But the seat was allotted to Congress. Later, his name figured in the list of probables for the post of mayor, but Rajpal was handpicked by party leaders.

Bhosale, a close aide of Ajit Pawar, played a major role in shaping the famous ‘Pune pattern’ which brought the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP together.

Bhosale told HT he had been working as Leader of the House for nearly three years and had stepped down “to give a chance to new blood.” He said he was not planning to quit the party.