Nephew Ajit Pawar or daughter Supriya Sule won’t be able to hold the organisation together, fear partymen
With just a day left to complete 11 years of its being, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) finds itself at the crossroads. Internal and external challenges abound, and there are no ready solutions in sight.
The NCP, which is gearing up to celebrate its 11th anniversary on Thursday (June 10), is yet to find a suitable leader to step into party president Sharad Pawar’s shoes and carry forward his legacy. Will the NCP gradually merge with the Congress before the 2014 assembly and parliament elections? Or will the water resources minister, Pawar’s nephew, Ajit Pawar, take over the party’s reins in the state, and his daughter, Supriya Sule, take charge at the Centre? Many NCP men have doubts.
For now, nobody in the organisation is ready to allow Pawar some
resting period despite his ill-health. His party colleagues know that without him at the helm, the party he built single-handedly will crumble within months. The great Maratha leader indicated during the last elections that he wanted to step down from electoral politics. But for now, he has to be there if the NCP has to retain its separate political identity.
Senior NCP leaders, such as Praful Patel, Vijaysinh Mohite Patil, Jayant Patil, Dilip Walse-Patil, Chhagan Bhujbal, who have closely worked with Pawar, might not be comfortable taking orders from
Ajit Pawar.
The NCP has renewed its pledge to expand the organisation beyond Maharashtra. It wants to make inroads in the Hindi heartland. Not surprisingly, the party had planned a conclave at Patna on June 10, 2010, ahead of the crucial Bihar assembly elections in early winter this year. It has been postponed indefinitely because of Pawar’s illness.
State NCP president Madhukar Pichhad feels that the party cadre will have to reconnect with the masses. He conveyed a meeting last week, urging the NCP cabinet ministers to work as social messengers.
And to keep the Congress at bay, Pawar is still the only hope. “As long as Sharad Pawar is there at the helm of the party, we have nothing to fear. But the moment he decides to relinquish it all, things might fall apart,” said a party leader.
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