NCPs googly: Sharad Pawar as PM and his nephew Ajit as Maharashtra CM

Sharad Pawars nephew, Ajit Pawar, said it was a mistake to offer the CMs post to the Congress after the 2004 elections

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief and agriculture minister Sharad Pawar is ready to become the countrys prime minister, provided there is a consensus, said Praful Patel, party leader and Union heavy industries minister in a television interview. However, he quickly added that any talk on this now is premature.

NCP, which currently occupies nine seats in the Lok Sabha, is aiming for at least 15 of the total 48 seats in Maharashtra during the 2014 general elections, which would give a boost to its bargaining power.

Patel statement on the partys view on Pawar comes at a time when tensions between NCP and Congress are mounting. Both the parties, though, have to take a formal stand. The two parties have been threatening to fight separately in the next Parliamentary and Assembly elections. Patels timing is also crucial when Congress is attacked from all corners.

Further, Praful has also dropped sufficient hints to the Congress not to take NCP for a ride as it can explore multiple options to consolidate its position both in the Lok Sabha as well as the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.

Meanwhile, Ajit Pawar, in an interview to a national daily, has not hidden his ambition to become chief minister by declaring that his party would insist on more seats for the Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections, both slated for 2014. Ajit went on to add that the NCP would elect the next chief minister of the state. He subtly expressed there was nothing wrong in aspiring to be chief minister but clarified the NCP Legislature Party would have to elect the chief minister. NCP has 62 members in the 288-member state Assembly.

Ajit further said it was a mistake to offer the CMs post to the Congress after the 2004 elections.

NCP state unit chief Madhukar Pichad told Business Standard, NCP has emerged number one in civic and local bodies in Maharashtra. The party will certainly aim for winning more seats in the Lok Sabha and also in the state Assembly.

He said a meeting of nearly 2,000 party members including district presidents and elected representatives has been convened on March 7 in Mumbai to decide election strategy.