Mumbai: The Ajit Pawar-led NCP has been trying to cut a different figure of late, distinct from those of its allies in the Mahayuti government. The silent statewide protests organised on Thursday, over the collapse of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue in Malvan, have made it amply clear that the party is distancing itself from the government.
Importantly, Pawar was the first to apologise to the people of Maharashtra for the collapse. On Friday, he will visit the Rajkot Fort before Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis do so. NCP state unit chief Sunil Tatkare will also accompany him.
The agitation, touted as 'silent protests in self-condemnation', was organised by the party across the state, District party units were asked to submit a memarandum to their respective district collectors, saying it wias unimaginable that a statue installed just eight months ago had collapsed and the matter was one of pain and anguish.
The party has admitted to the possibility of some ‘unpardonable’ mistakes being made in the installation of the statue at Malvan and demanded that stern action should be taken against those responsible.
NCP Stages Silent Protest
The silent protests appear to pre-empt the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA)'s announcement of a protest march in Mumbai on September 1. The NCP had decided to stage such protests in every district and tehsil of the state on Thursday, demanding the installation of a stronger and larger statue of the warrior king at the same spot.
The NCP protest assumes significance, in view of the potential political ramifications in the face of the outrage over the collapse of the statue. Pawar has, in recent times, sought to distance himself from various issues.
However, in the current situation, he apologised to the 13-crore people of Maharashtra, while such a thought does not even appear to have crossed the minds of the other Mahayuti allies, the Shiv Sena and BJP.
Sources close to the NCP say the collapse was a huge embarrassment for Ajit Pawar while his Jan Sanman Yatra, seeking to extract maximum political mileage from the ‘Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana’, was underway. He may have been perturbed by questions about his views on the Malvan incident but he could not give up the yatra midway.
According to Tatkare, the collapse incident was painful and his party had decided to protest, given that everyone has the right to do so.
The NCP stand is in keeping with its earlier positions on the ‘Ab ki Baar 400 Paar’ call of the BJP, no ban henceforth on onion exports and the recent admission by Ajit Pawar that he had erred in fielding his wife Sunetra against his cousin Supriya Sule in the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency.
NCP Not Keen To Quit Government
However, sources say it does not seem that the NCP is likely to decide on quitting the government, as the assembly elections will most probably be held in November. The party will use to its maximum advantage its presence in the government, ensure maximum allocation of funds for its MLAs and then, on the eve of the announcement of the poll programme, it may part ways, say party insiders.
The theory floating around is that it may join the third front being conceived by Achalpur MLA Bachhu alias Omprakash Kadu, and ex-MP Chhatrapati Sambhaji, claim sources.
Even the BJP leadership seems to be in favour of such an arrangement, intending to divide MVA votes. MLA Rohit Pawar of the NCP SCP claimed that the Raj Thackeray-led MNS too will be part of the front. Meanwhile, Ajit Pawar’s man Friday MLC Amol Mitkari engaged in a verbal spat with BJP MLA Nitesh Rane on Thursday. Reacting to some statements by Rane, Mitkari said people were eager to pack off Rane to Nepal.
According to Tatkare, the statue collapse incident was painful, but the language used by Rane was not befitting of a responsible leader and was not in sync with the culture of Maharashtra, he said.
