Faction fight 2.0 intensifies

NCP chief Sharad Pawar addresses supporters after paying tribute to former chief minister Yashwantrao Chavan, in Karad, on Monday. Pic/PTI

The coup in the NCP lacks the drama of the Shiv Sena mutiny before the government formation last June; however, the fight over the party and its symbol follows the same template. Hours after NCP boss Sharad Pawar initiated the disqualification action against the nine rebel MLAs, the Ajit Pawar faction removed state party chief Jayant Patil and installed Lok Sabha MP Sunil Tatkare. On Monday, Sunil and Praful Patel were dismissed from the NCP for anti-party activities "by facilitating the oath of nine rebel MLAs as cabinet ministers".

Sharad Pawar sacked Sunil and Praful Patel from the party a day after they attended the swearing-in ceremony where the defectors were inducted into the cabinet of the Eknath Shinde Sena-BJP government. Sunil's daughter Aditi Tatkare was among the nine MLAs who jumped ship on Sunday.

Praful, who was dismissed as the national working president of the NCP, announced Sunil's accession to the state party president post on Monday evening.

‘Sacking not legal'

Strategists in the Ajit camp said the right to remove Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare was held exclusively by the national executive of the party that had appointed them. "The national executive will have to be convened again and a resolution passed to remove them. The announcement by Sharad Pawar has no legal standing," said a leader, adding that Patel, being the national president, had every legal right to remove Jayant Patil from the state unit.

NCP president Jayant Patil at the NCP office on Monday. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

The line of confrontation was clearly marked, with Sharad Pawar challenging his nephew Ajit to gather the number of MLAs who could save him from the anti-defection law. Sources said that Ajit has submitted to the governor a list of 40 MLAs [out of the 53] on his side. However, Sule said the real picture will become apparent later this week. Both factions have convened a meeting of their respective MLAs on July 5 in the city.

Earlier in the day, Jayant Patil served the disqualification notices to the nine rebel MLAs who joined the Shinde Sena-BJP government on Sunday - Ajit Pawar, Chhagan Bhujbal, Hasan Mushrif, Dhananjay Munde, Dilip Walse-Patil, Dharmarao Baba Atram, Aditi Tatkare, Anil Patil and Sanjay Bansode.

Disqualification pleas

The disqualification matter has reached Speaker Rahul Narvekar, who said, "I will read the petition filed by Jayant carefully. I will study the points mentioned and take appropriate action on the petition". Ajit, as the leader of NCP legislature party, has also petitioned Narvekar to disqualify Awhad and Jayant Patil for anti-party activities. On Sunday, the Ajit faction had claimed they were the real NCP.

Sunil Tatkare, Praful Patel. File pics/Ashish Rane

Praful Patel said the Assembly speaker was informed about the appointment of Ajit as the leader of the legislative party and Anil Patil as the chief whip. The Sharad Pawar faction has appointed Jitendra Awhad as the Opposition leader and chief whip.

"Sunil has been given a letter and authorised to make appointments," said Praful Patel, adding that the party was ready to march forward under the leadership of Ajit. Praful Patel continues to be the party's national president, while no action has been initiated against the other working president, Supriya Sule. As per the Ajit faction, Sharad Pawar continues to be the national president of the NCP.

Not my blessing: NCP boss

Sharad Pawar on Monday rejected suggestions that the rebellion by his nephew Ajit, now a deputy chief minister, had his blessings, as he displayed a show of strength to assert authority over the party that is battling its worst crisis.

"It is a mean thing to say. Only those with a mean and low intellect can say this. I have set out on a tour of the state and galvanise the cadre. They should not feel disillusioned with what some leaders have done," he said at a press conference in Satara district.

Separately, addressing NCP workers and supporters, the 82-year-old politician said, "Attempts are being made to create communal divide in Maharashtra and the country. We need to fight forces that create fear among peace-loving citizens. We need to protect democracy in the country.

"The objective behind this is to take the country's affairs ahead with the help of these communal ideologies, and the same tendency took the same approach to turn things upside down in the state.

Unfortunately, some of our colleagues fell prey to these tactics," the former Union minister, who co-founded the NCP in 1999 after leaving the Congress, added.

‘Can't be angry with Ajit'

Addressing a press conference, NCP leader Supriya Sule said her father Sharad Pawar's stature will rise further. "Our credibility will only rise after this. Also, I can never have a fight with my brother. I am boring, steady and not mpulsive...Emotional relationships and professional work are two different things. I will never mix the two," she said.

‘Clueless about Ajit's move'

NCP MLA Rohit Pawar, the grandnephew of Sharad Pawar, on Monday claimed senior leaders had an inkling of BJP's "intention" to break the party, but we're clueless about Ajit's swift move to join hands with the ruling alliance. "However, going by all these developments, we wonder whether people like me made a mistake by joining politics," said Rohit, the grandson of Sharad Pawar's elder brother Appasaheb Pawar.

"He (Ajit Pawar) has helped me in his personal capacity also. However, politically, we all are with party chief Sharad Pawar," he told reporters in Pune. If put to test, Sharad Pawar will have a larger acceptance as the leader of people, he added. Later speaking in Satara, he said the rebel NCP MLAs were the ones who used to constantly criticise CM Shinde.

"Those who used to attack the ruling dispensation with taunts of ‘pannas khoke, ekdum ok' have now joined the state government. What happened with the Shiv Sena and NCP can take place in the Congress as well," he said while talking about the split.

Shinde, along with 39 Shiv Sena MLAs, had rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray in June last year, leading to the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government. They were taken to Surat in Gujarat, then to Guwahati in Assam and then to Goa. The Congress, NCP and Uddhav faction had claimed these rebel MLAs had taken R50 crore each (pannas khoke) to defect and join hands with the BJP.

With inputs from agencies

July 5
Day both NCP factions will hold respective meeting