Accusing Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar of pulling back each time despite his frequent negotiations with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), rebel NCP Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, who joined Ajit Pawar’s faction, said on Monday that all 54 MLAs including senior Pawar loyalists Jayant Patil and Rohit Pawar had signed a letter a few months ago which said the NCP ought to go with the BJP.
Speaking in Pune, Mr. Bhujbal attributed Mr. Pawar’s frequent flip-flops in his political dealings as the reason for finally leaving the NCP patriarch’s side.
“In 2014, I fought against the BJP and PM Modi…but then, a deal was apparently struck whereby the BJP said they would leave the Shiv Sena, and the NCP will leave the Congress. We left the Congress in an hour… While we did not join the government then, again in 2017, talks were on between a few leaders from our side and some on the BJP’s side after which it was decided that the BJP would take the NCP and form the government. Then in 2019, there was again a pact [between BJP and NCP] that they would leave the Sena and form the government with us…Sharad Pawar first supported this, but then went ahead and formed the government with Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena,” said Mr. Bhujbal, a tall OBC leader in the State.
Remarking that a majority within the NCP were upset at such flip-flopping, he said that two-three months ago, all 54 NCP MLAs including Jayant Patil, the state president of Sharad Pawar’s faction, and Mr. Pawar’s grand-nephew, MLA Rohit Pawar, had signed letter that the NCP ought to go with the BJP.
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When asked why he did not inform the 82-year-old Mr. Pawar that he was going to be sworn-in as Minister on July 2, Mr. Bhujbal quipped: “He [Sharad Pawar] never tells us when he resigns or takes his resignation back. He never says when he discusses things with the BJP in Delhi…so, why I should I tell him what I was going to do…45 NCP MLAs were present there [at the swearing-in of ministers of Ajit Pawar’s camp]. Am I supposed to keep fighting alone all the time?”
At the same time, Mr. Bhujbal stressed that the Ajit Pawar-led rebel NCP faction had not merged into the BJP and that he himself stood firm on the progressive ideals of Mahatma Phule, reformer-king Rajarshi Shahu, and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar.
“We are firm on our principles. We have not left the path of Shahu-Phule-Ambedkar,” he said.
Following a visit to the Phule Wada in Pune city, Mr. Bhujbal lauded the Shinde-Fadnavis government for addressing several long-standing issues.
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“I had been making efforts in vain to install portraits of Mahatma Phule and Savitribai Phule at the Mantralaya [at the time of Uddhav Thackeray’s MVA government]…but when I requested Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis and CM Eknath Shinde, the task was completed within a month and a half,” said Mr. Bhujbal.
He further credited Mr. Fadnavis for playing a crucial role in retaining OBC reservations in local body elections.
Meanwhile, Rohit Pawar, one of the handful NCP legislators left with Sharad Pawar, said today that Ajit Pawar would have stood a much better chance of becoming CM in 2024 had he remained with the MVA alliance as the wind was blowing against the BJP-Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena in Maharashtra.
Rohit, who is Sharad Pawar’s grand-nephew, also made it clear he would not contest against Ajit Pawar from the Baramati Assembly segment even if he were asked to do so.
“Due to [Sharad] Pawar Saaheb’s vision and the work done by Ajit Dada, the people will only vote Ajit Pawar in Baramati. While the people are not happy with Ajit Pawar’s decision [to go with BJP], I am very confident that they will vote for him on election day,” said Mr. Rohit Pawar.
Amid the turmoil within the NCP following the split, yet another legislator joined the rebel camp today.
Makarand Patil, the NCP MLA from Wai in Maharashtra’s Satara district, said he decided to join the Ajit Pawar camp to save two financially distressed sugar factories in his constituency and in the hope of ushering development there.
Notably, Mr. Patil was present during Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founder Sharad Pawar’s visit to Karad city on July 3, a day after Ajit Pawar and eight other MLAs joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government.
Mr. Patil’s flip-flopping in emblematic of the moves played by the NCP top brass, beginning with Sharad Pawar himself.
