Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, July 5: A day after claiming that their allegiance to the party patriarch Sharad Pawar would always remain intact, his nephew and the splinter group leader Ajit Pawar on Wednesday “removed” the veteran leader as the national president of the Nationalist Congress Party and assumed the office himself.
The development came within hours of the showdown of the rival factions of the party in Mumbai where the nephew looked to have stolen the march over his uncle having been able to parade 29 NCP members of the Maharashtra Assembly on his side while the meeting convened by Sharad Pawar was attended by 17 MLAs. The NCP has a total of 53 MLAs in the House and besides that whereabouts of seven MLAs were not immediately known, there also were claims of some of the MLAs having appeared in both the camps.
Legal experts, however, said the number of MLAs present in either of the camp would not matter if the Ajit Pawar faction did not merge with another party. Even if Ajit Pawar manages to get 50 out of 53 MLAs, disqualification proceedings can still be initiated as Supreme Court has held that original political party should merge under the 10th schedule and legislative party cannot be independent of a political party. So, the show of strength by Ajit Pawar will not have any impact on the disqualification proceedings, the experts said.
The rebel group sources said the Ajit Pawar faction had ousted Sharad Pawar from the top post of the party he has founded and led for over two decades. Sources in the rebel faction said they have also mentioned this in their letter to the Election Commission, in which they have staked claim to the party name and election symbol. The faction submitted a request to the Election Commission of India staking claim to the party’s name and symbol, outflanking his uncle and party chief Sharad Pawar.
The Election Commission has registered a “dispute case” sources said, as Ajit Pawar claimed the support of over 40 MLAs and MPs in his support. The Election Commission is now set to adjudicate the factional dispute within the NCP, founded by 83-year-old Sharad Pawar in 1999. The Election Commission is also expected to issue a notice to Sharad Pawar to respond to Ajit Pawar’s plea, as per Election Commission sources.
Sharad Pawar’s party has moved a petition before Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar seeking the disqualification of Ajit Pawar and the 8 MLAs who have taken oath as ministers in the Eknath Shinde-led government.
Sharad Pawar has said he would prefer to disregard numbers and even poll symbols, while assuring supporters that they would not be deprived of the election symbol. “Today’s discussion is who has how many MLAs are with us. I don’t pay attention to this. In the past I had 68 MLAs, when I went out for some time, 62 left us, I had just six… In the election, out of 62, only four could come back. We won with new faces,” he said.
“If someone says that they will take our symbol — let me tell you that the symbol of the party will be with us, it won’t go anywhere. If the ideology of the party is with the workers, we don’t have to worry… I have contested on a number of symbols,” he added.
Ajit Pawar also had a jibe at his uncle asking how long he wanted to remain at the party’s helm of affairs. The 63-year old nephew reminded his 83-year-old uncle Sharad Pawar that it was time for him to retire. “In BJP, leaders retire at 75, when are you going to stop,” Ajit Pawar asked. “Everybody has his innings. The most productive years are from 25 to 75 years,” 63-year-old Ajit Pawar said.
He also blamed Sharad Pawar for NCP losing out on the chance to have a chief minister in 2004. “We had more MLAs than Congress in 2004, but our senior leader allowed Congress to bag the CM’s post,” he said. “For us, Saheb (Sharad Pawar) is a deity and we have deep respect for him,” he said.
“IAS officers retire at 60. Even in politics, BJP leaders retire at 75. You can see the example of L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi,” Ajit Pawar said. “You are 83, aren’t you going to stop? Give us your blessings and we will pray that you live a long life,” Ajit Pawar said.
Sharad Pawar’s daughter and now party working president Supriya Sule, MP, gave a prompt reply to her brother but without taking his name. “Some people are saying that people who are senior now should give us blessings. Why should they stop working? Ratan Tata is 86 years old. Serum Institute’s Cyrus Poonawala’s age is 84. Amitabh Bachchan is 82…,” Supriya Sule said, also naming Warren Buffet and Farooq Abdullah. “Disrespect us, not our father,” she said.
In his all-out attack on his uncle, Ajit Pawar also accused him of disregarding the party’s wish to join hands with the BJP last year, when Eknath Shinde led a similar coup in the Shiv Sena of Uddhav Thackeray. Ajit Pawar said the NCP MLAs had signed a letter confirming their intention to tie up with the BJP.
Posters seeking support for Sharad Pawar or Ajit Pawar have sprung up in various parts of Mumbai. The banners outside Sharad Pawar’s residence asked people to come support the “83-year-old warrior fighting alone”. The Ajit Pawar camp has also been using the photo of the NCP patriarch, despite Sharad Pawar explicitly asking them not to.
Sharad Pawar, ridiculed for being in the driving seat at the age of 83 by his nephew Ajit Pawar, gave a point-by-point rebuttal to the rebels, fielding subjects ranging Nagaland and his past decisions. For the rebels, there was a warning too. Suggesting that the rebels would have done better to consult him before going ahead with their plans, Pawar said, “People who went with the BJP — look at their history. Akali Dal formed government in Punjab. They are not in government now.”
“Similar things have happened in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh. Nitish Kumar had to take a decision in Bihar… The BJP destroys parties that formed government with them,” Pawar added. Responding to Ajit Pawar and Praful Patel’s argument that if the NCP could ally with Shiv Sena, why not the BJP, Pawar said there was a difference between the two.
“Yes, Shiv Sena also follows Hindutva. They take everyone together, that’s their Hindutva. BJPs Hindutva is about dividing people, poisonous, Manuwadi and dangerous… People who divide on the basis of religion and caste, they can’t be the one who love the country. That’s why we can’t go with someone who believes in this,” Sharad Pawar said.
He also clarified the issue of NCP support to BJP in Nagaland – another big argument of the rebels – pointing to the big picture. “In Nagaland, our seven MLAs are with the BJP. Nagaland is the bordering state with another country. In states which share the border with China and Pakistan – we have to think a lot. The other country could take some benefit, that’s why we gave support from outside. Here they formed the government and gave this example, I cannot agree with this example,” said Mr Pawar.
Sharad Pawar has also asserted his claim as the leader of the “real NCP,” expelling Praful Patel and Lok Sabha member Sunil Tatkare from the party for “anti-party activities.” Despite the ongoing strife, Chhagan Bhujbal, who was among the eight NCP leaders sworn-in as ministers along with Ajit Pawar, expressed the faction’s willingness to reunite with Sharad Pawar, provided certain internal adjustments were made. “We are ready to come back to you once you sideline [your close aides]. We will come back to you then,” Bhujbal said.
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