As a setback for the NCP in Maharashtra, 25 leaders, including Pimpri-Chinchwad unit chief Ajit Gavhane, defected to the Sharadchandra Pawar faction of the NCP. This has created a sensation among the party members, and there is a lot of dissent in the NCP after its poor performance in the recently held Lok Sabha elections.
The defectors, including Rahul Bhosale, Pankaj Bhalekar, Yash Sane, etc., joined the new faction at the residence of NCP Chief Sharad Pawar in PUNE on Friday, alleging that the new faction is capable of bringing change in Pimpri, Chinchwad, and other parts of Maharashtra.
It has called for the deputy chief minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar to hold crisis meetings with his party men in the Pimpri Chinchwad region because of this colossal loss.
The political situation in Maharashtra has changed. Prior to this government, in which NCP was in an alliance with the BJP, it was reported that the people of the state were fed up with the saffron party.
A typical RSS-linked periodical, Vivek, reiterated the same view and attributed the depleted performance in Lok Sabha polls to this Saudi support.
It was fission last year when Ajit Pawar formed a new NCP with his own separate identity, parting ways with the main NCP party led by his uncle Sharad Pawar and siding with the Shiv Sena-BJP state government. This latest twist once more deepens the political situation in the state, particularly with the Maharashtra assembly elections scheduled for later this year.
However, as the NCP faces this kind of internal conflict, it will be important for the party’s leadership to manage these likely waters and mobilise so that the party can do very well in the forthcoming elections.
This is a major blow for the party, especially since leaders from Pimpri Chinchwad have defected to the BJP. The party will have to act fast to calm the rank and file and put up a united face to the electorate.
