Disappointed, Pawar’s close aide quits NCP

Ratnakar Mahajan, senior party member and close associate of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, who had recently suggested that the NCP should merge with Congress, announced his resignation from the party on Tuesday.

Ratnakar Mahajan, senior party member and close associate of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, who had recently suggested that the NCP should merge with Congress, announced his resignation from the party on Tuesday.

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Mahajan, a founding member of the party and an ideologue, parted ways after dashing off a resignation letter to Pawar last week.

In his letter, Mahajan said: “It would have been better if a seasoned politician like yourself would have looked at my arguments in the right spirit and conducted discussions at the party platform. But you didn’t do that and this has disappointed me.”

Mahajan had argued earlier again through a letter, publicised through the media, that the NCP had failed to establish a separate ideological, political or cultural base from the Congress and, hence, should merge with the party.

“The official reaction to my ideological arguments from the party was despicable and pitiable. Post such reactions, I couldn’t stay in the party,’’ he told Hindustan Times.

But Mahajan said he received positive feedback from all districts and that party rank and file agreed with his arguments but didn’t want to publicly support them.

The party has decided to ignore Mahajan. Pawar had earlier told reporters that he had no idea what prompted this outburst and that party was not entertaining any thoughts of merger.