Ajit's Rebellion Sparks A Bitter Pawar Vs Pawar Fight For NCP

Tit-for-tat expulsions and appointments in both factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) marked the beginning of a bitter battle for control of the party between Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and his uncle and party patriarch Sharad Pawar on Monday as the stage of the confrontation shifted from the government to the party.

- Faisal Malik

An air of respectful politeness that hung over Ajit Pawar's decision on Sunday to rebel against his uncle and join hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) dissipated a day later, as both sides claimed to be the "real" NCP and bitterly contested the other's right to make appointments, in what was a play-by-play repeat of the Shiv Sena split a year ago that led to a change of regime in the state.

In a public meeting, Sharad Pawar said some people in the party were misled by the BJP and that he bore them no malice. But hours later, he expelled the NCP's recently appointed working president Praful Patel and general secretary Sunil Tatkare, both of whom defected with Ajit Pawar.

In a sharp retaliation indicative of the escalating bitterness, Patel, a long-time associate of Sharad Pawar, said the NCP patriarch lost the right to sack him. He also appointed Jalgaon lawmaker Anil Patil as the new whip and said Ajit Pawar was elected as the party's new legislative chief.

NCP state president Jayant Patil also sent a letter to Maharashtra assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar late on Sunday night, seeking the disqualification of Ajit Pawar and eight other legislators who took oath as ministers in the Shiv Sena-BJP government.

Supriya Sule the party's working president for Maharashtra - recommended that Patel and Tatkare be expelled from the party.

"In the light of your undisputed conduct, by the power bestowed upon me as the national president of the NCP vide rules framed under Article 21 (vi)(a) of the party constitution, I hereby formally remove your names from the membership registrar of the party in view of your action of voluntarily giving up membership of the NCP," said a letter signed by Sharad Pawar to the two leaders. Patel is the party's Rajya Sabha MP while Tatkare is the Lok Sabha MP from Raigad.