Indicating that the last word is yet to be spoken on the ongoing power struggle within the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), its founder Sharad Pawar asserted that he is the president of the party and that only time will tell as to who wields the majority.
He was speaking to reporters at the conclusion of the party’s national executive meeting in Delhi, where his decision to expel 12 rebels, including his nephew Ajit Pawar and former aide Praful Patel, was ratified.
In Mumbai, Mr. Ajit Pawar declared that the Delhi meeting had no “legal sanctity” as the question of who represents the “real NCP” is now under the Election Commission of India’s jurisdiction.
Mr. Sharad Pawar rejected his nephew’s assertion. “I am the president of NCP, if someone says [that he is the president], then it is completely false, there’s no truth in it. There’s no importance if someone says something,” he said.
‘Working effectively’
Mr. Ajit Pawar was not mentioned by name even once during the half-hour-long press interaction, neither by Mr. Sharad Pawar, who walked into the press conference midway through, nor by the party’s Kerala unit president P.C. Chacko, who opened the meet.
But that did not stop Mr. Sharad Pawar from countering his nephew’s jibe that he is holding on to power even at an advanced age. “The question to stop does not arise. I am working effectively, no matter whether I am 82 or 92,” the NCP patriarch said.
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Waving off his nephew’s claim to the support of two-thirds of the party, Mr. Sharad Pawar said, “We shall see what is the truth when the time comes and who holds the two-third majority.”
In an oblique admission that he had ignored the pleas of party leaders for the NCP to change its political course, he seemed to confirm the statements made by Mr. Patel and others that he had ignored their pleas to align with the BJP. “In 2019, some leaders had come to me, bringing me a letter detailing what should be party’s future strategy and who should we go with. I told them that it will be deliberated at the party meeting,” he said, without elaborating on how the episode concluded.
Opposition unity impact
He scoffed at a question on the implications of a “diminished” NCP for Opposition unity. “What do you mean by diminished? Some people go to some other side. This happens in political parties and no one is diminished by this or that,” he said. Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi met Mr. Sharad Pawar at his residence on Thursday evening.
The NCP chief ducked the question of why he expelled the rebels, rather than pursuing their disqualification. The move is seen by many as Mr. Sharad Pawar taking a lesson from the Shiv Sena split, where taking legal recourse for the disqualification of 16 rebel MLAs has worked against the Uddhav Thackeray faction. Mr. Sharad Pawar has written to the Election Commission, questioning why he was not informed about his nephew staking claim for the party symbol. The Commission, he said, was expected to inform him about his nephew’s petition in view of the caveat he filed.
Mr. Chacko told journalists that the NCP national executive has passed eight resolutions, the first of which was to “express full faith and confidence” in Mr. Sharad Pawar as the party’s national president. The second resolution was to ratify the expulsion of two of the party’s parliamentarians — Mr. Patel (Rajya Sabha) and Sunil Tatkare (Lok Sabha) — both of whom are named in the resolution, and nine MLAs, including Mr. Ajit Pawar who was not named explicitly.
‘No legal sanctity’
Meanwhile in Mumbai, Mr. Ajit Pawar said that the Delhi meeting chaired by his uncle had “no legal sanctity whatsoever.” Leaders of his faction claim that Mr. Ajit Pawar was elected as the national president of the NCP on June 30, with strong support from the majority of the party’s elected representatives as well as those holding internal organisational positions. His faction also submitted a petition to the Election Commission of India (ECI), asserting that Mr. Ajit Pawar represents the legitimate NCP and should be granted the party’s name and symbol.
“The dispute over the representation of the real NCP now falls under the exclusive jurisdiction of the ECI. Therefore, no individual within the party has the authority to call for any meeting of the national executive, national working committee, national office-bearers, or State party presidents, until the ECI makes a final decision on the matter,” he said. “Therefore, the meeting held on Thursday carries no legal significance, and any decisions made during the meeting lack a valid legal basis and will not be binding upon any members of the party,” he added.
