Congress bows down to NCP

Ashok Chavan had his way in the council elections. But he had to follow the NCP diktat in the Rajya Sabha polls and ask independent candidate Kanhaiyalal Gidwani to withdraw from the race.

The NCP was wary of a contest because it was unsure of getting its second candidate elected. The RS polls for six seats in the state are scheduled for June 17. Officially, the Congress had fielded two candidates — Vijay Darda and Avinash Pande — and the NCP two, Tariq Anwar and Ishwarlal Jain. The Sena had Sanjay Raut and the BJP, Piyush Goyal. But all six were declared winners by late afternoon because there was no possibility of any contest.

But the NCP diktat has left several Congress leaders fuming. Their grouse — the NCP did not consult them before fielding three candidates in the council and two in the Rajya Sabha despite having inadequate numbers.

Last week when both the parties met, the NCP had made it clear that it did not need any help from the Congress in the Rajya Sabha polls. “We are the leading partner in the coalition,” a state Congress general secretary said. “But the NCP always has its way. They have started taking us for granted.”

On Thursday morning, state NCP chief Madhukar Pichhad wrote a formal letter to Chavan requesting Gidwani to withdraw from the Rajya Sabha elections. The Congress state leaders forwarded the letter to All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Ahmed Patel and Union defence minister AK Antony, who is in charge of the party in the state. After getting the nod from the centre, the state promptly summoned Gidwani and asked him to pull out of the race.

Pichhad, however, underplayed the differences. “In a coalition, you give some and you take some,” he said. “We never intended to hurt our alliance partner. On the contrary, I am grateful to the Congress for honouring our request. Today is the NCP’s birth anniversary and the Congress has given us a gift.”