Parallel Pawar shows: My turn, says nephew, uncle lashes back

Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Wednesday sharply criticised his uncle Sharad Pawar just days after rebelling against him, and asked the senior leader to retire, but the public announcement of his desire to be the chief minister appeared to spark unease in his new ally Shiv Sena and drew condemnation from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) patriarch.

- Shailesh Gaikwad, Surendra Gangan and Faisal Malik

Both factions of the NCP scrambled to corral legislators on its side and held almost parallel shows of strength in Mumbai, mobilising thousands of workers from their strongholds to make a point.

Ajit Pawar claimed that he enjoyed the support of 40 of the NCP's 53 legislators but his meeting was attended by 32 short of the benchmark required to evade the anti-defection law. His hour-long speech on Wednesday afternoon sealed the split in the NCP, founded 24 years ago.

His uncle and political mentor Sharad Pawar's meeting was a more emotional spectacle where the 82-year-old leader was hailed as a lion who would rebuild the party. It was attended by 15 lawmakers.

The allegiances of six members of legislative assembly (MLAs) remained unclear - a crucial factor in the snowballing fight for control of the party, its name and poll symbol.

That battle gained momentum on Wednesday as Ajit Pawar's camp moved the Election Commission of India (ECI), demanding the use of the NCP name and symbol, an analogue alarm clock drawn on the Indian flag.

had By evening, Ajit Pawar - who also removed his uncle as NCP president and anointed himself as the new party chief sequestered his lawmakers at Taj Land's End Hotel in Bandra; Sharad Pawar called a meeting of the party's national executive in Delhi on Thursday.

The crisis in the NCP began on Sunday when Ajit Pawar and eight other NCP lawmakers joined hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and took oath as ministers in the Maharashtra government.

The rebellion set off a string of tit-for-tat disqualifications and appointments in both camps and representations to ECI in what was an almost play-by-play repeat of a split last year in the Shiv Sena that brought down the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.