Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, June 10: Effecting some organisational changes to lessen his burden, the octogenarian Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar on Saturday appointed two working presidents for the party which may annoy his hitherto virtual second-in-command Ajit Pawar who had lately been showing signs of rebellion to join hands with the BJP.
Mr. Pawar, 86, made the announcement in New Delhi on the 25th anniversary of the party, which he founded along with P.A. Sangma in 1999. He named his daughter and the Baramati MP Supriya Sule, 53; and the NCP’s current vice president Praful Patel, 66, a former Union Minister, as the two new working presidents of the party and also divided responsibilities among them.
Announcing the new office bearer, Pawar said, “I am bestowing the responsibility of NCP’s working president to Praful Patel; along with that, have given responsibility of the States of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Jharkhand and Goa. I am also giving the responsibility of Maharashtra, Haryana, Punjab, women, youth and Lok Sabha coordination to Supriya Sule as the working president.” He also gave the responsibility of Odisha, West Bengal, farmers, and the minority department to the party’s national general secretary Sunil Tatkare.
In addition to Patel and Ms Sule, MP Sunil Tatkare, Dr Yoganand Shastri, KK Sharma, PP Mohammed Faisal, Narendra Singh Verma, Jitendra Awhad, SR Kohli, and Naseem Siddiqui have been given various important responsibilities within the party, he informed in a tweet.
On May 2, Pawar had announced his resignation as the national president of the party during the launch of his autobiography. However, three days later, on May 5, Pawar was forced to take back his resignation, stating that he respected the “strong sentiments” among the party cadre and leaders across the country wanting him to continue. At that time, there was talk of appointing a party working president, who would work closely with Pawar, and whom he would mentor.
He had said, “Even though I am continuing in the post of president, I am clear that there has to be a succession plan for any post. In future, I will focus on making organisational changes in the party by assigning new responsibilities and creating new leadership.”
Pawar said his decision to appoint two working presidents of the party was to ensure the NCP’s leadership team has enough hands to look after the party’s affairs across the country. “The situation in the country is such that it would have been wrong to give the responsibility of all states to only one person,” Pawar told reporters after announcing two working presidents.
On whether the decision to appoint Patel and Ms Sule would not go down well with his nephew Ajit Pawar, the NCP chief said his nephew already handles a lot of responsibilities. Ajit Pawar is also the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra assembly.
He is known to show rebellious streaks. Ajit Pawar joined hands with the BJP in 2019 and took oath as Deputy Chief Minister in an early morning oath-taking ceremony with Devendra Fadnavis as Chief Minister. On Saturday, Ajit Pawar appeared visibly upset with the announcement and left the party office in Mumbai without talking to reporters.
Patel, who seemed surprised by the announcement, said he would continue to work hard for the party. “I have been working alongside Pawar saheb since 1999. So, this is nothing new for me. Of course, I am happy at being elevated as working president. I will continue to work to increase the footprint of the party,” Patel said.
“I am grateful to NCP President Pawar saheb and all the senior leaders, party colleagues, party workers and well-wishers of NCP for bestowing this huge responsibility of working president along with Praful Patel bhai,” Ms Sule tweeted. With Ms Sule in-charge of Maharashtra, Sharad Pawar has effectively made Ajit Pawar report to her on party matters, a move that could lead to unease in the NCP.
Sharad Pawar formed the NCP in June 1999 along with Tariq Anwar and PA Sangma after they were removed from the Congress for raising an issue related to Sonia Gandhi, the then Congress president.
Moments after Pawar announced Sule and Praful Patel as working presidents of the NCP, and other big changes in the party, Ajit Pawar, till recently seen as the strongest contender for the top post, congratulated the newly elected leaders in a tweet.
“Under the leadership and guidance of respected Sharad Chandra Pawar Saheb, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which is making its debut in the silver jubilee year with the idea of ‘Maharashtra in the heart… eyes in front of the nation…’ will make a valuable contribution to the development of the country and the state. It is believed that every worker and office bearer of NCP party will work towards this goal. Congratulations again to the newly elected officials,” he tweeted in Marathi.
