Manikrao Kokate case, row linked to Parth Pawar: No respite in sight for NCP amid growing strain with BJP

Maintaining a distinct identity

Unlike the Shiv Sena, which relies on its Hindutva ideology to share space with the BJP under the right-wing umbrella, the NCP has meticulously maintained a distance from the two parties in a bid to retain its distinct political identity.

During the Winter Session of the Maharashtra Assembly, held in Nagpur, the NCP had skipped the annual visit to the headquarters of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to offer obeisance to its founder Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar. Ajit has often stated, “We subscribe to the Phule-Shahu-Ambedkar ideology in Maharashtra,” emphasising that the party’s association with the BJP was based on the development agenda.

Party spokesperson Anand Paranjpe too underlined that the NCP has never visited Hedgewar memorial in the past “as it is founded on the progressive thoughts of great social reformers Shahu, Phule and Ambedkar”.

Despite efforts, BJP-NCP convergence remains challenging

The split in the undivided NCP in July 2023 weakened the party led by Sharad Pawar, which had altered the political dynamics in Maharashtra after the 2019 Assembly polls by aligning with the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) to isolate and relegate the BJP to the Opposition benches. Sources said the BJP leadership at the Centre and the state also wanted to get back at the senior Pawar for what they said was a betrayal of the short-lived BJP-NCP alliance in 2019. The famous early morning swearing-in of Devendra Fadnavis as chief minister and Ajit Pawar as his deputy after the 2019 polls crumbled in three days after Sharad Pawar refused an alliance with the BJP.

However, by splitting the regional party into two – NCP led by Ajit Pawar and NCP(SP) led by Sharad Pawar – in 2023, the BJP was able to loosen the senior Pawar’s total hold in the sugar belt of Western Maharashtra. In Ajit, it found a new partner with whose help the BJP believed it could make deeper inroads in Western Maharashtra which has 12 Lok Sabha seats and 72 Assembly seats. Capturing the economically prosperous belt is also crucial to gain a foothold in the local body polls.

In a candid admission on Tuesday, Fadnavis said, “In municipal corporations, where the BJP and NCP are strong, we will contest against each other. The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is a classic example. The BJP has done a lot of work here and has a strong base.” Political arrangements are derived from ground realities and pressure from the local units of the respective parties, he acknowledged.

What has led to the latest strain?

On Tuesday, the Nashik District Session court upheld the two-year imprisonment and fine of Rs 50,000 imposed on NCP minister Manikrao Kokate in a fraud case. Sources in the NCP said the minister would move an appeal in the Bombay High Court to prevent his disqualification as a legislator. The ruling has also put Kokate’s status as a legislator in jeopardy in an embarrassment to the NCP.

The NCP leader has been convicted for forging documents to illegally acquire two apartments under the Chief Minister’s discretionary housing quota. The case was registered in 1995 on the complaint of former minister T S Dighole. According to the prosecution complaint, Kokate and his brother were allotted two flats meant for Low-Income Group (LIG) individuals on College Road in the Yeolakar Mala area. To acquire the flats under the CM quota, Kokate submitted documents to show that he belonged to the LIG category and did not have any house in the city.

Subsequently, Kokate and his brother Sunil were convicted for offences punishable under sections 420 (cheating), 465 (forgery), 471 (using as genuine a forged document) and 474 (possession of forged documents) and 34 (acts done by several persons with common intention).

Earlier, Kokate was divested of the important agriculture portfolio and made the Minister for Sports and Youth Welfare after a viral video purportedly showed him playing an online card game during the Monsoon Session of the state legislature.

Prior to that, another NCP minister, Dhananjay Munde, was forced to resign after his close aide Walmik Karad got embroiled in the case pertaining to the murder of Beed sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh in December last year. Munde has maintained that he had no role in the matter.

Recently, a controversial Pune land deal linked to a company led by Parth Pawar left the NCP under a cloud. Ajit Pawar, however, repeatedly clarified that neither he nor his son had any role in the deal. The plot in question was a ‘mahar watan’ land, which cannot be purchased. It was alleged that the company associated with Parth got the land worth Rs 1,800 crore for merely Rs 300 crore and even managed a huge stamp duty waiver. Following the hue and cry, the deal was scrapped, and the chief minister ordered an investigation into the matter.