Journalism of Courage
With NCP corporators openly supporting Peasants and Workers Party candidate Laxman Jagtap and the party refusing to set the record straight, the nomination of Shiv Sena leader Rahul Narvekar as NCP candidate from Maval had stoked speculation of him being a “dummy candidate”. However, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s statement in Mumbai on Monday and in Talegaon on Tuesday has kicked off a debate in the NCP as to whether the “covert” support from the party to Jagtap has been withdrawn.
Jagtap is considered close to Ajit Pawar and it is being widely discussed in Pimpri -Chinchwad that the NCP would do everything to get him elected. But Ajit Pawar’s strong statements in the last two days indicate that the party leadership has apparently changed its mind and decided to lend full support to its official candidate, Rahul Narvekar, say political observers. At a press conference in Mumbai on Monday, after Narvekar joined the NCP, Pawar angrily retorted: “When Ajit Pawar stands by someone, you will see what the result is…” He was answering a question as to whether Narvekar was being fielded as a dummy candidate to enhance the chances of getting Jagtap elected.
On Tuesday, during the launch of Narvekar’s poll campaign, Ajit Pawar was at his aggressive best as he said: “I can give posts…and also take away posts if anybody refuses to listen to me…I can also fling them away like a stone…” His two statements, say political observers, are an indirect attack on Jagtap.
“It seems Jagtap refused to listen to Pawar on filing his nomination as an NCP candidate. This is the first time Ajit Pawar has spoken on the issue. Though he has not directly taken names, this statement shows much has happened between Pawar and Jagtap,” said a political observer.
When asked whether he would not get any support from Pawar, Jagtap refused to react but said things had become better for him. “I am going to become the MP,” he said.
However, Narvekar does not seem to be worried much.
After Ajit Pawar launched his campaign from Talegaon on Tuesday, Narvekar told The Indian Express that the picture regarding the NCP candidate would become clearer in a couple of days. “You will soon see all corporators, leaders and supporters rallying around me,” he said. Narvekar’s reaction came in the backdrop of the open support that at least 30 corporators from the PCMC lent to Jagtap, who was the associate member of NCP before he decided to be a candidate of the PWP from Maval.
Narvekar even refused to acknowledge that the corporators were present in Uran when Jagtap campaigned in Raigad, which is part of the Maval constituency.
After joining the NCP in Mumbai on Monday, Narvekar at a press conference refuted the allegations levelled by the Opposition that he was a “dummy candidate” in Maval. On Tuesday, he stressed that he was the official candidate of the party and would put in his might to win the elections.
NCP leaders, however, said Pawar’s attack still did not clear the confusion in the rank and file torn between Jagtap and the party.
Shatrughan Kate, one of the NCP corporators who campaigned for Jagtap in Uran on Sunday, said: “The picture regarding NCP corporators will become clear on Sunday (March 23). You will come to know who is supporting whom.”
Meanwhile, at a press conference on Tuesday, Shiv Sena candidate Shrirang Barne said: “With Narvekar in the field, the NCP votes are going to get divided. Because of the division of NCP votes, I will benefit…the poll will be one-sided,” he said.
