As the tussle for control of the Nationalist Congress Party hotted up after its vertical split, Sharad Pawar on Thursday declared he was the president of the party and hit back at nephew and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's retirement jibe, saying he will work more effectively "whether 82 or 92."
Pawar made these remarks after he chaired a meeting of the NCP working committee, which expressed faith in his leadership and endorsed his decision to expel Ajit Pawar and eight other MLAs, Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare, both MPs, from the party after they joined the NDA ranks on Sunday. The meeting was held in Delhi.
"I am the president of NCP," the 82-year-old Pawar told reporters after the meeting, and added that the "truth will come out" on Ajit Pawar' claim of having majority.
Senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal has claimed that 42 to 43 party MLAs have signed affidavits in support of Ajit Pawar. The NCP has a strength of 53 MLAs.
As Sharad Pawar battled the NCP crisis, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi met him at the residence of the Maratha strongman and expressed full support to the NCP after his nephew Ajit Pawar walked out with a large chunk of MLAs and joined the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party government.
The meeting with Gandhi also took place at a time when questions are being asked whether the vertical split in the NCP will hurt opposition unity and about the role of Sharad Pawar in stitching an anti-BJP front for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
This was the first meeting of a national leader with Sharad Pawar after the rebellion in the NCP. Opposition leaders Sonia Gandhi, M K Stalin and Mamata Banerjee among others had made phone calls to Pawar and expressed solidarity.
"Question doesn't arise about stopping. Now, I will work more effectively, whether 82 or 92 it doesn't matter," Pawar said in response to questions by reporters about the retirement jibe hurled by Ajit Pawar.
”You are 82-83, aren't you going to stop?. Everybody has his innings," the Maharashtra deputy chief minister said on Wednesday.
At his news conference, Sharad Pawar dismissed suggestions that the NCP had diminished in strength after the rebellion.
"What do you mean by diminished? If some people leave a party, it has happened in other political parties as well, it doesn't mean the party has diminished. As I said we will rebuild our party," he said.
Senior NCP leader P C Chacko said 27 state units of the NCP endorsed the eight-point resolution passed by the working committee.
The Ajit Pawar-led faction of the party said the NCP working committee meeting called by Sharad Pawar has no legal sanctity.
A statement released by the faction said the dispute on the question of who represents the real NCP is within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Election Commission of India and therefore no person within the party has any authority to call for any meeting of the national executive/national working committee/ national office bearers / state party presidents till such time it is finally decided by the poll body.
”Therefore, the meeting of the national executive/national working committee/national office bearers/state party presidents of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) today has no legal sanctity whatsoever,” it said.
”Any decisions which may be taken in the so-called national executive/national working committee/national office bearers/state party presidents shall have no valid legal basis and shall not be binding on anyone in the party."
Sharad Pawar rejected questions raised by the Ajit Pawar faction on the legal validity of the working committee meeting.
"This meeting of the working committee has been held as per the constitution. If anyone has said anything there is no truth to it or importance to it," he said.
A day after Ajit Pawar's remark that he aspired to be the CM created a flutter in political circles, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde described as ”rumours spread by opposition” reports that his chief ministerial chair may be in jeopardy after NCP rebels joined his year-old coalition government.
Shinde also told reporters that nobody in his faction in the Shiv Sena is unhappy over Ajit Pawar's inclusion in the state ministry.
BJP's Maharashtra unit chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule, meanwhile, said Sharad Pawar should introspect about the recent developments in his party and look after his family as well as the outfit instead of criticising the BJP. It is Sharad Pawar himself and not the BJP that is responsible for the split in the NCP, he said, quoting Ajit Pawar as saying.
Replying to a query on Sharad Pawar's criticism of the BJP, Bawankule said, "What is your condition today...Your party is not with you, the party workers are deserting you, your relationship with the Centre as well as the Maharashtra government is not good."
"Your condition is so bad that your family is going away from you. What worse can one see?" Hence, instead of levelling allegations against the BJP, Pawar saheb should do some introspection, look after his own family and the party, and better not comment against the BJP, he added.
Talking about other issues, Sharad Pawar exuded confidence that the opposition parties will succeed in defeating the BJP-led central government in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
"The central government is using ED, CBI everywhere to weaken the opposition. It is fine. About 11 months are left of this government. Then we will face elections and the situation will change. Then our top priority will be to make appropriate changes."
Pawar also expressed faith in the Election Commission, where the rival factions have staked claim to be the real NCP and its election symbol.
"We have complete confidence in the Election Commission. We will approach the Election Commission. We are clear about the legal position. If anything adverse happens then we will move the appropriate authority. But, I don't think things will come to that pass."
The Sharad Pawar-led group is pinning its hopes on the Supreme Court verdict in the Shiv Sena symbol dispute, where it had stated that it was not appropriate to confine the EC to the 'singular test of legislative majority' in such matters.
"Some people tried to make a dent in the party, but all our colleagues displayed the resolve and their morale was high to rebuild the party with greater strength and vigour," the senior Pawar said.
Pawar said he was confident that there would be a change of government in Maharashtra in 2024.
"Those enjoying power now, will be set aside by the people. They will have to pay the price for the way in which they had treated the opposition," the veteran leader said.
NCP leaders also put up banners and hoardings near Sharad Pawar's residence in the national capital, expressing faith in his leadership and depicting Praful Patel, his close aide who crossed over to the Ajit Pawar camp, as 'Kattappa' from the movie Baahubali.
In the movie, Kattappa the army chief of the fictional kingdom of Mahishmati had killed the protagonist Baahubali.
