All Is Not Well In NCP, Sunetra Pawar Slights Two Leaders

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) faction created by late Ajit Pawar is witnessing certain traumatic developments over the past fortnight with top leaders Sunil Tatkare and Praful Patel at the centre of the controversy. Now led by Pawar’s widow Sunetra, the suspense over the future of Tatkare and Patel is repeatedly in question. According to the documents submitted to the Election Commission earlier, Patel is no longer the working president of the party. Sunetra, Maharashtra deputy CM, has tried to defuse the tension by declaring that all will be well soon and every misunderstanding will be removed. Nonetheless, at a meeting of senior party leaders held on May 26 at her official residence, Devgiri, fireworks were galore, some party workers have claimed. According to them, Tatkare was most outspoken and demanded to know why he and Patel were isolated when the party was passing through a crisis following Ajit Pawar’s death in a plane crash. Tatkare maintained that he and Patel were instrumental in installing Sunetra as party chief. Despite this, the duo had to face unfair criticism from within the party, he lamented. Though he was in Mumbai, Patel was not present for the May 26 meet, in which OBC icon Chhagan Bhujbal tried to calm the atmosphere by appealing to all to forget the bygones. But Tatkare was not placated. There is a feeling of uneasiness in the party since election for the 17 seats of the state legislative council is around the corner but that matter is almost sidelined due to the internecine clashes. The tension in the NCP (Ajit) is palpable and concerns are raised about its future.