Ajit Pawar vs Sharad Pawar: NCP factions fight over control over party

After a series of firings and re-appointments, Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar are preparing to have meetings with respective factions on Wednesday to determine how much support each side has

Following Ajit Pawar’s rebellion, both factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) are now holding a meeting on Wednesday, July 5 to determine which is the “real NCP.” Here are the developments so far.

Firing and re-appointments in both factions

After Ajit Pawar was sworn into the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government, both factions of NCP went on series of firing and re-appointments along with the filing of disqualification petition by Sharad Pawar’s side. Ajit Pawar stated that many in the party supported his decision with eight other members of NCP being sworn into the Shinde-led government in Maharashtra alongside Ajit Pawar on Sunday.

Sharad Pawar removed Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare, who was one of the eight MLAs that joined Ajit Pawar. He also fired Narendra Rathod, Vijay Deshmukh, and Shivajirao for attending the oath ceremony. Moreover, the faction had filed a disqualification petition against Ajit Pawar and the eight other members who joined the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance.

Following this, Ajit Pawar replaced Maharashtra NCP chief Jayant Patil with appointed Sunil Tatkare as the party's state unit chief. The faction also approached Maharashtra

Assembly Speaker to disqualify Jayant Patil and Jitendra Awhad from membership of the House.

Ajit Pawar was also appointed as NCP's legislature wing leader.


 

Mishaps while inaugurating a new office

In the days following his appointment as deputy chief minister (DCM) of Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar was set to inaugurate a new office for NCP near the state secretariat, however, could not enter after the keys of the office went missing.

Party workers had to force their entry into the bungalow after they failed to break the doors which were reportedly locked from the inside. They claimed that the Public Works Department (PWD) had failed to provide them with the keys on time.

The bungalow that would house the party office previously belonged to Ambadas Danve, a Shiv Sena (UBT) leader.

Wednesday's meeting may provide clarity

Both Sharad Pawar- and Ajit Pawar-led factions are set to hold meetings on Wednesdays which will involve all functionaries for both factions.

Ajit Pawar will reportedly sit at 11 AM with his faction while Sharad Pawar will begin his meeting at 1 PM.

After both meetings it will be clear how much support the uncle and nephew have managed to retain, therefore determining which one has the majority member support.

According to a report from India Today, Ajit Pawar currently holds support from 24 out of the 53 NCP MLAs, earlier media reports had stated he had 30 out of 53. He requires at 34 members' support to avoid the anti-defection law that punishes Members of Parliament (MPs)/MLAs for defecting from one party to another.

The same report claims that Sharad Pawar has the support of 14 MLAs. Ajit Pawar claims that two-thirds of the MLAs support him, if this is true then he will be able to claim authority over the party.

Who will determine the real NCP

The parties can approach the Election Commission to prove which one is the real NCP.

According to ABP news, Sharad Pawar has consulted lawyers on whether the matter should be taken to court and if so whether it would be wiser to approach Mumbai High Court or directly to the Supreme Court. However, no decision has been made yet.