Shiv Sena spokesperson Rahul Narvekar has quit the party to join the NCP, which has nominated him as its candidate from Maval for the Lok Sabha elections. Narvekar, the urbane face of the Shiv Sena who represented the party’s views on English news channels, had withdrawn his nomination from the legislative council elections held last week. He had been nominated by the Shiv Sena which did not have adequate numbers to get him elected. Narvekar claimed he withdrew his nomination as some leaders of the party were working against him and he was not in a position to secure the remaining votes necessary to get elected. Narvekar had last week claimed he had tried to get in touch with Sena president Uddhav Thackeray before the elections but could not get through to him. Soon after withdrawing his nomination on March 14 Narvekar had initiated meetings with senior NCP leaders, including Sharad Pawar. His entry into the party was announced at a press conference in Mumbai by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. “I have been working in the Shiv Sena for the past 15 years. It feels sad to leave a party you have worked for. There were some leaders in the party who were not too happy with my progress and worked to ensure that I did not succeed in the MLC elections,” Narvekar said. Narvekar’s father-in-law Ram Raje Nimbalkar is a senior NCP leader and belongs to one of Maharashtra’s erstwhile royal families. Sharad Pawar is said to have played a key role in getting Narvekar married into the Nimbalkar family. In the polls, Narvekar will face Shrirang Barne who has been nominated by the Shiv Sena from Maval. Sena MP Gajanan Babar had quit the party after it did not renominate him. The NCP was struggling to find a candidate with its MLA Laxman Jagtap deciding to contest as an independent. Narevkar’s exit from the Shiv Sena is not likely to hurt the party electorally as he did not have an independent support base. However, it has dented the Sena’s public image as a leader known as its urban face and close to Thackeray’s son Aditya has left so close to the elections. Three outgoing MPs have quit the Shiv Sena in the last fortnight. Narvekar told The Indian Express he had been in touch with the NCP leadership. “I have met NCP chief Sharad Pawar several times,” he said. At the press conference where his name was announced as NCP’s Maval candidate, Narvekar rubbished reports that he suddenly withdrew from the council poll without informing the Sena leadership. “The withdrawal happened with permission of the Sena leadership,” he said. He also scotched speculation that he was the dummy candidate for the NCP from Maval amid reports that he was being fielded to hurt the Sena and help Jagtap, who is said to be close to Ajit Pawar. Although the Shiv Sena in Maval seems to have been rattled by the development as it fears its votebank would be eroded, party candidate Shrirang Barne underplayed Narvekar’s move. He said Narvekar is from Mumbai and has no hold in the Raigad area of Maval constituency. “But what is amazing is that the NCP, which was born here, does not find a candidate in Pune district. It had to go all the way to Mumbai to look for a candidate,” he said. “Let them play games, I don’t care.I will win by a historic margin.”
