Sonia refuses Pawar invite

NCP general secretary Devi Prasad Tripathi disclosed that CPI(M) general secretary, Prakash Karat, CPI secretary A.B. Bardhan and Telengana Rashtra Samiti chief K. Chadrasekhara

Rao have confirmed their participation.

RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav and LJP’s Ram Vilas Paswan may be at loggerheads over Bihar, but Pawar will not play favourites. ‘‘We will invite both,’’ Tripathi clarified.

Alongside the bonhomie between UPA partners, there is nothing stopping Pawar from poaching on the Congress flock. His latest catch is veteran Gujarat Adivasi leader Somjibhai Damor, who has won the Lok Sabha elections seven times from Dahod.

Minister of State for Civil Aviation Praful Patel made a special appearance at the NCP office to welcome Damor into the party fold. ‘‘We have every right to expand our party,’’ he argued, pointing out that even though together at the Centre and in Maharashtra, the Congress and NCP were in rival camps in many states. ‘‘We are a part of LDF in Kerala,’’ he added.

Damor said he began getting feelers from Pawar during a visit to Gujarat. He said he shared old personal ties with Pawar. The NCP chief, Damor recalled, told him to ‘‘do some work rather than sitting uselessly.’’ He attributed his defection to ‘‘the common ideology shared by the two parties.’’ Tariq Anwar gave a spin to Damor’s move, saying, ‘‘It may be due to a personal insult faced by him.’’

Since Panchayat polls in Gujarat are just six months away, Damor, given his influence among tribals in Dahod, would undermine Congress prospects.

Tariq Anwar told reporters in reply to a question that the NCP would initiate action against the sole party MLA in Jharkhand under the anti-defection law for his decision to join the NDA Government. He said the NCP would approach a Congress or RJD MLA to file a complaint against him with the Speaker.