E-Paper
First signs of split within NCP evident in Pune core committee meet
During the meet “two leaders” questioned whether going with the Shiv Sena was the right option
Although a rebellion in the Nationalist Congress Party (BJP) was brewing for sometime, signs of the split first clearly emerged during party’s core committee meeting in Pune on November 17 when “two leaders” questioned whether going with the Shiv Sena was the right option.
To this, the party chief Sharad Pawar said that the NCP has taken the discussions ahead and coming back is not an option, said a senior leader requesting anonymity citing the sensitivity of the matter. Maharashtra witnessed an overnight drama which resulted into Devendra Fadnavis taking oath as the chief minister while Ajit Pawar was sworn-in as the deputy chief minister.
Among the two leaders, according to the senior party member quoted above, was former opposition leader in the legislative council Dhananjay Munde. Despite repeated attempts, Munde could not be contacted as he kept his phone switched off. By Saturday evening, Munde emerged at the NCP party’s meeting at YB Chavan centre in Mumbai, where NCP chose another legislative leader of the party. Munde chose not to speak with the media personnel there.
After Ajit Pawar’s rebellion, NCP spokesperson while reacting in the morning, said, “Many in the party are confused as to how this happened all of sudden,” Kakade said and added that he is in Chandigarh currently.
On Saturday, when Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar took oath, the centre of activity was Munde’s official residence in Mumbai where newly-elected NCP legislators were called and taken to the Raj Bhavan in the morning.
Another leader who expressed concern about going with the Sena during the core committee meeting held in Pune, was a party MP, according to a source aware of the developments. The core committee meeting was to discuss NCP’s strategy about going with the Sena and Congress to provide an “alternative” government in Maharashtra after the BJP initially failed to garner the requisite number.
When the two leaders questioned the party’s stand to ally with the Sena, Ajit Pawar maintained silence. However, two NCP leaders HT spoke to said that Ajit Pawar’s growing disappointment with the party was visible right from Lok Sabha polls when NCP chief Sharad Pawar was initially reluctant to field Parth from Maval.
Pawar had initially maintained that the party will not field Parth though pressure from Ajit Pawar and his family made senior Pawar accept the demand. Sharad Pawar decided to not to contest the polls from Madha and instead field Parth from Maval.
