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Journalism of Courage
MUMBAI, APRIL 15: The entry of former Deputy speaker Sharad Tasare and former Minister Vinod Gudhade Patil into the Congress, in the presence of AICC president Sonia Gandhi, is being viewed as a major setback to the Nationalist Congress Party.
Significantly, both Tasare and Gudhadhe Patil joined the Congress when a high-level meeting of the NCP, presided by state president Baban Pachpute, was redrafting its strategy to strengthen the organisation in the Vidarbha region.
Tasare was one of the most trusted aide of NCP president Sharad Pawar. In fact he was among the first legislators from the Congress to join the Congress (S) floated by Sharad Pawar. Subsequently, when Pawar joined the Congress at the instance of Rajiv Gandhi, Tasare too followed his political mentor. Apparently Tasare has not been happy over the manner in which Pawar was conducting the affairs of the newly formed party. He was more upset with the appointment of former Agriculture Minister Harshavardhan Deshmukh as Chairman of Vidarbha Regional Development Board.
Both Deshmukh and Tasare belong to Amravati district. In the Assembly elections, both were defeated by Congress nominees. After the Congress-led Democratic Front Government appointed Deshmukh and granted him Cabinet rank, Tasare lodged a strong protest. Tasare himself was not keen on any government or party post, but his main emphasis was that Deshmukh should not be nominated for any government post.
As far as Vinod Gudhade Patil is concerned, he was to join the NCP during the Lok Sabha elections and it was agreed that he will be offered the Nagpur seat. Subsequently, Gudhade Patil contested as a BJP candidate and lost to Congress nominee Vilas Muttemwar. Despite this, NCP, particularly Pawar, was keen to admit him in the NCP after he resigned from the BJP following his differences with senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari.
While Gudhade Patil re-launched him as an activist of the NCP, there was no response to him either from Pawar or Pachpute. As a result, he decided to join the Congress, when MPCC President Govindrao Adik personally called on him at his residence.
“Both Tasare and Gudhade Patil have joined our party unconditionally. In our effort to strengthen the organisation, there was nothing wrong in admitting activists from other political parties including NCP into the Congress,” Adik said.
A senior NCP Minister admitted that the entry of both Tasare and Gudhade Patil into the Congress is a major setback for the NCP, particularly when the organisation is making all possible efforts to strengthen itself at all levels. “If activists like Tasare and Gudhade Patil join the Congress, then I feel it is time for introspection,” the Minister said.
Meanwhile, NCP has taken strong objection to the large scale hijacking of its leaders by the Congress. “If the Congress is luring members from constituent parties, then it was highly objectionable. In fact, we feel that the constituent partners should reach an agreement against such defections,” a NCP leader said.
