26 August,2011 07:58 AM IST | | Ravikiran Deshmukh
With NCP scions Supriya Sule and Ajit Pawar choosing to back two different campaigns for the girl child, party circles are abuzz that a cold war may be raging between the two, who are in the running for the post of party supremo
The near-simultaneous launches of similar programmes by two senior members of the same party has set tongues wagging among the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) ranks.
While the Ajit Balika Suraksha Yojna was launched by NCP MLC Vinayak Mete last Sunday at his home district in Beed, another project in support of the girl child was flagged off yesterday by NCP chief Sharad Pawar's daughter, Supriya Sule.
While the Ajit Balika Suraksha Yojna was launched by NCP's
Vinayak Mete last Sunday, another project for saving the
girl child was flagged off yesterday by Sharad Pawar'
daughter Supriya Sule. Deputy CM Ajit Pawar
While both the floated projects aim to uplift the condition of the girl child in the state, the coincident launches beg the question as to why the two leaders would not collaborate, and instead chose to invest in independent programmes.
According to the party's other office bearers, it is extremely rare for an MLC to try and steal the thunder from the party chief's daughter in such a manner.
Also raising eyebrows among party members is the fact that Mete has decided to name his programme the Ajit Balika Suraksha Yojana, clearly establishing that it has the backing and support of his mentor, Deputy CM Ajit Pawar.
Rumour mills in the party circle have already been working on overdrive to predict who will be elected as the incumbent party chief Sharad Pawar's political heir his nephew Ajit Pawar or his daughter Sule.
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The fact that Pawar is backing a programme that will be, directly or indirectly, contesting one launched by Sule, indicates that the party may be gradually polarising itself into two camps one that supports Pawar, and the other Sule.
Both Pawar and Sule have been seen hard at work in the recent past, attempting to expand their political clout and strengthen their factions.
The padyatra spearheaded by Baramati MP Sule, titled Jaagar (awakening), was flagged off yesterday from Naigaon, in the district of Satara.
It will culminate in Pune on August 28. Almost 1,000 girls from across the state are participating in the campaign.
Asked if the recent proceedings could have anything to do with the ongoing cold war between Sule and Pawar,
a senior leader of the party nodded in that direction, confirming that the two had chosen different platforms to launch their respective campaigns while Mete's project was flagged off under the banner of Marathwada Lokvikas Manch, Sule's programme had the support of Yashwantrao Chavan Centre, the head of which was none other than her father Sharad Pawar.
Significantly, the party state unit chief Madhukar Pichad decided to take a rain check for Mete's launch last Sunday, citing ill health.
Asked why the two candidates did not collaborate to float a single project, as they end was clearly the same, Mete evaded the question and chose to guarantee his benevolence instead, claiming that he would donate Rs 5,000 for each female child born in Shirur tehsil of Beed district.
"We will also provide medical assistance and supplementary food to girls," he added.
