Mumbai: The Nationalist Congress Party led by deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar has threatened to pull out of the ruling Maha Yuti alliance if the Shiv Sena- led by chief minister Eknath Shinde does not expel its leader Vijay Shivtare from the party. Spokesperson for the NCP Umesh Patil told the FPJ on Monday that a meeting of senior leaders of the party will be held on Tuesday at which a final decision will be taken.
He said the language used by Shivtare against Ajit Pawar was in extreme poor taste and no self-respecting person will tolerate it. CM Shinde is finding himself pushed to a corner with the NCP's demand for expelling Shivtare, who is an important leader, from his party. Shivtare is a former minister who has his base in Purandar and neighbouring areas.
When contacted by FPJ Shivtare said he will not apologise for his comment on Ajit Pawar and that he stood by it. "I had only used a Marathi saying about a scorpion sitting atop a Shivling as per which you cannot kill the scorpion without damaging the Shivling. I had not used any objectionable language and I stand by my observation," he added. He also noted that Umesh Patil was not a leader and he owed no explantion to him.
Even as seat-sharing talks were going on, Shivtare had unilaterally announced his candidature from the prestigious Baramati Lok Sabha constituency much to the consternation of Maha Yuti partners.
He had declared his candidature even as the NCP is keen on fielding Sunetra, Ajit Pawar's wife, against sitting M.P. Supriya Sule, daughter of Sharad Pawar. More than once, Shivtare, had targeted Ajit Pawar in "highly objectionable language."
Mr Shivtare, who is a two-term MLA, said he wanted to put an end to the domination of the Pawars over Baramati and hence is keen on contesting from that seat.
NCP spokesperson Umesh Patil said his party will be satisfied only if Mr Shinde throws Shivtara out of the party. In the recent past, the NCP had complained to Mr Shinde against Mr Shivtare. But, it did not yield any result. Hence the NCP has warned the CM that it will pulled out of the alliance irrespective of th consequences.
The threat, coming as it does on the eve of the polls, has put the CM in a tight corner. It is highly unlikely that the NCP would quit the Maha Yuti alliance, but it will certainly try to extract an apology from Mr Shivtare.
Meanwhile, there are reports that the Maha Yuti coalition may field Mahadev Jankar, Dhangar (shepherd) community leader and president of the Rashtriya Samaj Paksh. Baramati has a sizable population of the Dhangar community and in the 2014 LS polls Jankar had given a tough fight to Ms Sule. Deputy chief minister and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis' gameplan is to ensure that Baramati does not remain the pocket borough of Sharad Pawar anymore.
Pawar Sr has been repeatedly targeting Fadnavis and allegedly also got Maratha activist Manoj Jarange Patil to politically attack him. In fact, Fadnavis has even constituted an SIT to find out who the persons masterminding Jarange Patil's campaign.
If Jankar's candidature is declared, then a special responsibility will be cast on Ajit Pawar to ensure his victory. Jankar's entry will also save Ajit Pawar the embarrassment of getting his wife Sunetra to take on his cousin Supriya Sule.
