NCP leaders unite for local polls, claim action against leader who sent notice to Sunetra Pawar

Senior leaders of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), led by deputy chief minister Sunetra Pawar, have decided to set aside their differences and put up a united front to work for the local body elections next year. This decision was taken after a slew of meetings between members of the party’s core committee on Friday and Saturday.

The leaders also decided to initiate action against the party’s former secretary Sachidanand Singh who had served notices to the top leadership questioning the appointment of Sunetra Pawar as the party’s national president, following the death of her husband Ajit Pawar in an air crash in January. Singh had termed Sunetra’s appointment as “unconstitutional”.

Saturday’s meeting was chaired by Sunetra Pawar and attended by national working president Praful Patel, state president Sunil Tatkare, and ministers Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse Patil, Hasan Mushrif and Narhari Zirwal, as well as party disciplinary committee chief Jay Pawar. Sunetra, who was in Pune, was requested to rush to Mumbai for the meeting.

“After reviewing our local strategy and regional structures, we discussed how to reinforce the party and agreed to launch a series of organizational programmes,” said Tatkare after the meeting, putting emphasis on the zilla parishad, nagar panchayat and gram panchayat elections next year.

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When Tatkare was asked by the media to comment on the reconciliation of the veteran leaders with the young ones, he said, “The rift was a perception created by the media. I cannot answer if it is a preconceived notion.” He added, “legal steps related to the issues raised by party functionary Sachidanand Singh would be taken”.

A party leader requesting anonymity said: “As part of the resolve to put up a united face, the leadership has decided to initiate action against Singh. Singh may face action for anti-party activities. In fact, Jay Pawar’s presence at the meeting assumes significance in this backdrop.”

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However, he added, the meeting held with all the leaders at Parth’s house to arrive at a consensus was significant, “especially when Tatkare said they are working to strengthen the party”.

Another leader said that both Parth and Sunetra are in favour of hiring political strategist Prashant Kishor to chalk out the party’s strategy.

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Meanwhile, the party is looking to give more opportunities to youngsters against the backdrop of the recent Gen-Z protests. Twenty-two zilla parishads, 105 nagar panchayats and more than 14,000 gram panchayats are expected to go to the polls early next year after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise is completed by the end of the year.

“While the other two ruling parties—the BJP and Shiv Sena—are determined to expand their base across the state, we cannot lag behind. At the same time, we cannot deviate from the ‘secular’ face of the party,” the leader said.