After a poor performance in the Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra, the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is facing political challenges with four leaders exiting the party.
This follows an article in the RSS-linked magazine Organiser that blamed the Maharashtra BJP’s poor performance on its alliance with the Ajit Pawar-led NCP and the lack of communication between the party, its workers, and the NDA government in the state.
Ajit Pawar’s party suffered a major setback on Tuesday when four of its top leaders from Pimpri-Chinchwad resigned and are set to join the Nationalist Congress Party led by veteran leader Sharad Pawar.
The leaders, who parted ways, include Ajit Gavahane, president of the Pimpri-Chinchwad unit, Yash Sane, a student leader, and two former corporators, Rahul Bhosale and Pankaj Bhalekar.
“I resigned yesterday and today we will have a meeting with all ex-corporators of another Vidhan Sabha constituency. We will accordingly decide our upcoming strategy. We are going to take blessings of Pawar Sahab (Sharad Pawar). We will make a decision together,” said Ajit Gavahane told news agency ANI.
He alleged that since 2017, the BJP started holding PCMC (Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation) development has stalled.
The resignations also come amid speculation that some leaders in the Ajit Pawar camp were willing to return to Sharad Pawar’s faction ahead of the Maharashtra assembly polls.
Earlier in June, Sharad Pawar had said that the doors were closed to those who sought to weaken his party, while leaders who could strengthen the organisation without tarnishing its image will be welcomed.
Ajit Pawar’s party contested four Lok Sabha seats in the state and bagged only one – Raigad, while his uncle’s faction bagged eight seats in Maharashtra. Assembly polls in the state are scheduled later this year.
The Pawar family divided into two political factions following a rebellion led by Ajit Pawar against NCP founder Sharad Pawar in 2023. Sharad Pawar chose to stay in the opposition, while Ajit Pawar aligned himself with the National Democratic Alliance under chief minister Eknath Shinde was appointed as his deputy.
In the recently held Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra, the ruling coalition Mahayuti, which includes the BJP and Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde, alongside the NCP led by Ajit Pawar, secured 17 out of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
On the other hand, the opposition coalition Maha Vikas Aghadi comprising the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) led by former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, and the faction of the NCP led by Sharad Pawar won 30 seats.
