BJP wanted to split NCP but Sharad Pawar’s masterstroke spoiled its game plan: Uddhav Sena

The editorial claimed that one group of the National Congress Party wanted Sharad Pawar to join hands with the BJP and free them from the harassment of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and the Income Tax Department. “However, Pawar refused to toe their line. Not just that, the moment he announced his resignation from the party president’s post, Maharashtra’s political terrain suffered an electric shock. The party rank and file pressured him to take back his resignation…,” it said.

The Saamana editorial said following pressure from NCP workers and leaders, Pawar decided to set up a committee. “He appointed a jumbo-sized committee. And who made it to the committee? Many of them were those who were insisting that the NCP join hands with the BJP. But due to the anger among party workers, the committee was left with no option but to reject the resignation of Sharad Pawar as party president. The committee was to tell Pawar that, ‘hereafter only he and he will remain the president.’ Thus, before the third edition could end, Pawar brought the curtains down on it,” it said.

The editorial also claimed Pawar had no choice but to stay on as president. “At the same time, the event helped Pawar understand where his party was veering towards. Pawar said those who want to leave the NCP can do so and he will not stop them. That means those who wanted to leave have been stopped in their tracks, at least temporarily. However, the BJP’s lodging-boarding facility still remains in place,” it added.

It alleged that the BJP does not believe in winning elections through democratic means. “It does not have the capability to win elections on its own. It wants to use ED, CBI, and Income Tax [Department] and play its political games,” it claimed.