NCP veteran defects to Cong

Kamble is apparantly sore over the treatment meted out to him by senior NCP leaders after the party came to power last year. “Nobody in NCP is happy with the functioning of its leaders who became ministers because of party chief Sharad Pawar. Instead of paying attention to grassroot party workers, they are busy filling their empty pockets,” Kamble alleged while talking to this paper.

“It’s been a year since the party has come to power, but nobody is thinking about strengthening the party. Clinging to power seems to be the ultimate motive for several leaders,” Kamble fumed.

Sources close to Kamble said the trade union leader felt let down after the party gave preference to RMMS leader and MLA Sachin Ahir over him. Kamble contested the last assembly election from Bandra constituency but lost to Congress candidate J C Chandurkar. After coming to power, he was ignored while allotting appointments on government undertakings such as MHADA, CIDCO and other corporations. Kamble, head of Shramik Utkarsh Sabha, controls unions in several companies in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai.

He will formally join Congress at a function organised by him to celebrate the silver jubilee anniversary of his union on Saturday.

The NCP leaders sought to downplay Kamble’s decision. “He should be aware of the favours shown to him by saheb (Pawar). Ignoring strong opposition from the party, Pawar ensured assembly tickets for Kamble when we were in Congress,”said Gurunath Kulkarni, general secretary of state NCP.

“A leader should not quit the party just because he is denied some plum posting,”he remarked bitterly.

In a veiled threat to the Congress leaders, Kulkarni said the NCP might think it necessary to allow the former’s leaders to join the party. “We were preventing Congressmen from joining our party just to save the DF government. Henceforth, we will show them how many Congressmen defect to NCP,”he said.