Jolt for Ajit Pawar as NCP’s Pune chief quits to contest against party candidate in Indapur civic polls

He will now be contesting as a candidate of the Krishna Bhima Vikas Aghadi, an alliance formed by members of the NCP(SP), BJP, and Shiv Sena who share a similar agenda.

Garatkar said the NCP ignored his demand as the party did not need him anymore. “I had given everything possible for the growth of the NCP in the last 20 years, and never expected such treatment from the party leadership. It was suffocating. So the time came for me to quit,” he added.

“I had sought candidature for another party worker to contest as the Nagaradhyaksh, but it was not accepted. I had made it clear that if the loyal party worker was not allowed to contest the election, then I would part ways with the party. I did not want to contest the civic polls myself, but my supporters insisted that I jump into the fray in everyone’s interest,” he said.

Garatkar added that his supporters urged him to contest the election in alliance with those who envisioned the development of Indapur taluka.

NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader Harshvardhan Patil, who has taken the lead to form the Krishna Bhima Vikas Aghadi, said, “I want to clarify that the new pre-poll alliance is a local alliance and has nothing to do with any political party.”

Patil said Garatkar will be their candidate for nagaradhyaksh and the alliance will also contest the Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections.

A committed leader: Supriya Sule
NCP(SP) executive president Supriya Sule said she got to know about Garatkar’s quitting through social media. “I have had good relations with him and his family for years. There have been political differences between us in the recent past, but he has been a committed leader who contributed a lot to the NCP,” she said.

“Whatever treatment he received is unjustified, but it is the internal issue of another political party,” Sule said, adding that the local unit of the NCP(SP) would decide on whether to support Garatkar in the election.

State minister and NCP legislator from Indapur Dattatray Bharne said the party fielded Shah because of his family’s legacy in developing the region. “It is not about his wealth, but the work done by the Shah family for Indapur’s development that led Bharat Shah to be declared the party candidate for Indapur Nagaradhyaksh,” he said, adding that the party leadership will have a discussion with Garatkar on the stand he has taken for the civic elections.