Bitter dissension in Congress, NCP in Maharashtra

Elections are less than a month away in Maharashtra and there is turmoil in the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

First indications of trouble were seen in early March when a brewing family feud in Sharad Pawar’s clan became public. Pawar’s nephew Ajit Pawar was keen on his son Parth contesting from the Maval Lok Sabha seat. Pawar opposed this citing the reason of dynastic politics. To make his point, Pawar said he would not contest from the Madha seat, hoping to prove his intentions, though his daughter, Supriya, will contest once again from Baramati. Unmoved, Parth Pawar stuck to his guns. Battle lines were drawn, with Sharad Pawar and his daughter on one side and Ajit Pawar and his son on the other.

Although Ajit Pawar’s rise in politics has been on account of his uncle, he has not hesitated to challenge Sharad Pawar. In 2010, Ajit Pawar had his eyes on the Deputy Chief Minister’s post. He gathered 62 MLAs who pledged support to him, leaving Sharad Pawar with no choice but to acquiesce. Ajit Pawar has been elbowing his way upwards for a while and now seems to have set his sights on the party leadership. Recently, when Sharad Pawar announced that the Ahmednagar seat would be left to the NCP’s partner, the Congress, to contest, Ajit Pawar contradicted him saying no such decision had been made.

Ajit Pawar’s move is in keeping with his aim of gaining control of the NCP. The current arrangement is that Sharad Pawar is all-in-all. Supriya handles the party at the Centre and Ajit Pawar handles Maharashtra. But behind-the-curtain politics have been playing out too. Sharad Pawar’s other nephew, Rohit, has been successful in zilla parishad politics. Ajit has felt that if his own son did not make a play for the post now he would be overshadowed.

Pawar is facing flak from many sides. The volte face on Ahmednagar resulted in a jolt for the Congress. On March 18, the Congress stalwart Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil quit the party on moral grounds. He did this because his son Sujay had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a week earlier. Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil said Sharad Pawar promised the Congress the Ahmednagar seat but went back on it, leaving his son with no option but to join the BJP. Ahmednagar has been a Congress stronghold and the Vikhe Patils have been associated with the seat and the Congress for 50 years. The party is now in danger of losing it to the BJP.

It does not stop there. On March 19, another stalwart family, this time from the NCP, went over to the BJP. Vijaysinh Mohite Patil’s son Ranjit is expected to join the BJP soon. Vijaysinh, a former Rajya Sabha member, was keen that his son contest from the Madha constituency—the one that Sharad Pawar had said he would not contest from—and was apparently upset at the delay in the announcement of the candidate. Vijaysinh’s open support of his son changing sides has led to speculation over whether he too will join the BJP.

While bald personal ambition is the name of the game in the Congress and the NCP, the one that is benefitting from it all is the BJP.