Pawar struggling to contain rebellion in party

The first hint of serious trouble came during the budget session of the state legislature when the Sena-BJP moved a cut motion on the demands of the Food and Civil Supplies ministry — an indication that they had garnered enough support to defeat the government. Pawar got wind of it and held a brief meeting with some dissident legislators on April 19 for a first-hand assessment of their grievances. He met them again at the residence of Finance Minister Jayant Patil two days later. The third meeting, a day-long affair, happened on Friday at Bhujbal’s Maharashtra Educational Trust at Bandra.

While dissident leaders Sudhakarrao Naik and Abhaysinh Raje Bhosale boycotted the special convention, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Datta Meghe, former Revenue Minister Shalinitai Patil, Prashant Hiray, Narayan Pawar, Dilip Sopal came down heavily on the style of functioning of a Bhujbal and Rural Development minister R R Patil.

Datta Meghe, a trusted aide of Sharad Pawar, launched a frontal attack on Bhujbal, saying, he should immediately abandon the “Bhujbal Brigade” operating in parts of Maharashtra, while Shalinitai Patil said the members of the Upper House should not be included in the ministry. A clear dig at Bhujbal who is an MLC.

The dissidents were particularly unhappy over the manner in which the party obtained their signatures on a statement, which inter-alia stated that they have full faith in the government and they have no intention of quitting. In the wake of a possibility of a split in the party, the NCP had submitted a statement singed by 19 MLAs that they had no plans to quit. Public Works Minister Vijaysinh Mohite Patil had then refused to sign the statement insisting that it was highly improper to suspect a legislator of his stature.

Both Chhagan Bhujbal and R R Patil urged the party legislators to remain together in larger interest of the organisation. “If you feel I am the hurdle for keeping the party intact, I am prepared to quit my post, but please do not split the party as it will benefit such parties against which we have been fighting for a long time,” Bhujbal said.

Patil said all possible steps should be taken to provide a stable government and towards that end he was willing to quit if it helped.

But Friday’s attempted brain-washing did not help much and the political undercurrent was so strong on Saturday that rumours were rife that if the dissidents did not manage enough numbers to avoid the anti-defection act, they would resign from the NCP just to put the government in peril.

State NCP President Babanrao Pachpute admitted that there was a brief discussion on Bhujbal, but declined to divulge the details, saying it was an internal matter of the organisation. Pachpute warned that stern disciplinary action would be taken against those who criticised policy decisions of the government. However, in the same breath, Pachpute said the party had no plans to initiate disciplinary action against Sudhakarrao Naik for his public utterances against the government.

Meanwhile, leader of opposition Nitin Gadkari observed that Sharad Pawar has lost power, since he was making baseless allegations against the Sena-BJP alliance. “From the political developments in the Congress-led Democratic Front, particularly within the NCP, I feel that Pawar has lost control over the organisation,” Gadkari said.