Nationalist Congress Party factions fight again

When the talks of their reunion are still afloat the Nationalist Congress Party NCP factions are in the news over the possibility of Lok Sabha MPs getting lured into leaving the Sharad Pawar group The factions are at loggerheads making claims about each otherNCP Ajit Pawar State President Sunil Tatkare denied giving seven rival NCP Lok Sabha members an offer to join the ruling party but he said he would reveal everything at an appropriate time One of the Sharad Pawar faction MPs Amar Kale claimed that a former leader of NCP SP who is now in the Congress had contacted him and others about joining the NDA and NCP APNCP SP chief Sharad Pawar File picShadab KhanSpeculations have been rife for some days that the NCP SP was on the verge of breaking The party had won eight Lok Sabha seats in the 2024 general elections from Maharashtra while the rival camp got only one seat The situation reversed in the state Assembly elections when Ajit Pawar led his faction to a fabulous gain His party along with senior partners BJP and Shiv Sena Shinde won over 230 out of 288 seats setting a new record for any preelection coalition Since then the rumours of NCP SPs split have been floating unabatedIf seven out of eight MPs split from the party the move will get a legal sanctity They can form their separate group or merge with the Ajit Pawar camp When asked by reporters Tatkare denied making any such move He said he could not comment on an offer that was made by a leader Sonia Doohan who didnt belong to his party ldquoDoohan is not in our party and she has not been given any authority by usrdquoTatkare who is his factionrsquos sole Lok Sabha member said that the MPs met each very frequently at the functions in Delhi and discussed a lot of things ldquoI havenrsquot contacted any MP for the purpose of defection I can say that the defeat in the Assembly elections has proved where they the rival faction stood I have been in politics for 40 years and I have never used any such words that showed disrespect to the seniors like Sharad Pawar and his Lok Sabha MP daughter Supriya Sule he said when asked about the offer that the MPs should leave lsquobaap lekrsquo the father and daughter behind to join hands with Ajit PawarIt was said that Sule had talked to Praful Patel the rival faction leader after she knew of the offer made to her party colleagues ldquoI dont know what transpired between them Sule and Patel However I will talk about who said what and when at an appropriate time I will also talk about what efforts were made to align the undivided NCP with the BJP between 2014 and 2024rdquo he addedKalersquos claimWardha MP Amar Kale told reporters that it wasnrsquot any responsible NCP leader who had made an offer but it was Sonia Doohan who had called him and others to convince him them to join the NDA and NCP AP ldquoShe said despite being in the Opposition for five years the MPs would have to give results in their respective constituencies and win the elections again She said the MPs will not get funds for developmental work if they continue to be on the opposite benches She said the only way to get funds was to go with the NDA and NCPrdquo claimed Kale adding that he had complained about this to Sharad Pawar and SuleDoohan came into the limelight after she had played a stellar role in bringing back NCPs legislators to Mumbai from Haryana where they were kept under the watch It happened during Ajit Pawarrsquos first rebellion an attempt to form a government with the BJP in 2019 The government fell within three days Doohan became a trusted aide of Sharad Pawar who made her in charge of the partys Delhi office She stayed with the veteran leader after the 2023 party split However she joined the Congress last year blaming her exit on Sule lsquoNobodys leavingrsquoNCP SP senior leader Jitendra Awhad informed the media persons on Wednesday that Sharad Pawar had told the rank and file that they should not take things seriously ldquoPawar Saheb said it is baseless and rumours nobody is leavingrdquoAccording to Awhad the rumours were planned to destabilise his party ldquoWe know who they are One is the BJP and the other is those who ask for leaving the father and daughter This is not our culture They talk of unification of two factions and yet invite these guys to their fold Whyrdquo asked Awhad