NCP mulls going solo in Assembly polls

The ruling Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in Maharashtra has launched a massive exercise to know whether cadres would prefer going solo or continue the alliance with the Congress in the elections to the 288-member Assembly slated for September-October. In a hurriedly-called meeting here on Sunday, barely 12 hours after the conclusion of a two-week monsoon session of the state legislature, party chief Sharad Pawar asked NCP ministers to extensively travel in all 35 districts in the next 10 days to grasp the sentiments at the grassroots.

The ministers have been asked to give a district-wise plan for poll management. They have also been directed how to take credit for decisions such as the one to partially waive dues of agricultural power consumers, implementation of food security scheme, and increase in the allocation for district plans.

Pawar’s directive to his ministers comes at a time when there are calls from a section of leaders as well as cadres to end alliance with the Congress in the ensuing elections.

An NCP minister, who was present at the meeting in Devgiri, the official residence of Pawar’s nephew and state deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, told Business Standard: “Pawar has asked all party ministers to reach out to the voters and party members and find out how NCP can effectively tackle anti-incumbency and weather the Modi wave in the Assembly elections. Besides, ministers have also been asked whether or not the NCP’s poll prospects will be affected if its alliance with Congress continues. Moreover, ministers have been asked how the NCP can bring about an image makeover and provide tickets to new faces.”

The minister added that Pawar also asked them to find out whether the 15-year old alliance with the Congress would help cash in on the burgeoning division in the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), especially after the untimely death of BJP leader Gopinath Munde.

Another minister observed that NCP, which had won 62 seats in Assembly polls held in 2009, can win at least 50 seats in an alliance with Congress. “Then why not go solo and test the waters. The NCP’s tally may improve and thereafter the party can ally with Congress as it was done in 1999 to form the government,” said the minister.

The move is crucial in the backdrop of the fact that the Congress won two seats and the NCP four seats in the general elections. Both the Congress and NCP are together trailing in 234 Assembly constituencies as the five-party alliance led by Shiv Sena and BJP won 42 of the total 48 Lok Sabha seats.

However, BJP and Shiv Sena are engaged in verbal duel over change in their seat-sharing formula and staking their claims over the post of chief minister.

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, which had failed to open its account in the Lok Sabha elections, has already decided to project party president Raj Thackeray as chief ministerial candidate. However, NCP has taken a decision to fight the Assembly poll through collective leadership and elect its leader after the polls.