Mumbai: Discord within the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar) has surfaced over the nomination of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra Pawar for a vacant Rajya Sabha seat.
Many leaders who were contenders for this Rajya Sabha seat were seen expressing disappointment over the way Sunetra has been accommodated in the parliament while some others who have been active in the party for over two decades were sidelined. To add to it, there was some buzz in the political circles that the BJP leadership in New Delhi was very unhappy over their alliance partner Ajit Pawar losing the Baramati Lok Sabha seat despite putting in so much effort there and the party may start distancing itself from the NCP.
On Friday, speaking with the media in Pune, Pawar claimed that the reports about some leaders such as Chhagan Bhujbal being unhappy over not being sent to the Rajya Sabha were untrue.
"The media has started too much speculation. The media does not have any clue about what is happening inside the party but they keep reporting things based on their imagination. Bhujbal had no opposition to any name, he was present at the time we filed the nomination," Pawar said.
However, some activists close to Chhagan Bhujbal said that he had pressed the demand over this nomination a lot.
Statement Of An Activist Close To Chhagan Bhujbal
"Bhujbal was first told that he would be given the Nashik Lok Sabha seat. There was a lot of delay in announcing the name and at the last moment, this seat went to Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena. They lost the seat. Now, at least the Raja Sabha nomination should have been given. We are very unhappy," said the activist who did not want to be named.
Some sources claimed that there were two more leaders who had met Ajit Pawar with this demand, but they denied it. There may not be any immediate political fallout from this development openly. But while this disappointment within the party was being talked about openly, an external threat has also emerged for Ajit Pawar. This time from New Delhi.
BJP Unhappy Over Ajit Pawar's NCP's Performance In The Lok Sabha Elections 2024
There are credible reports coming from BJP sources that the party is very unhappy over Ajit Pawar's party's performance in the Lok Sabha polls. The party was given four Lok Sabha constituencies and they could win only one bringing their strike rate down to just 25%.
The BJP wanted to utilise Ajit Pawar mainly to counter Sharad Pawar in his bastion Baramati but Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra lost the contest there.
Sources indicated that the BJP is thinking of distancing itself from the NCP ahead of the state assembly polls in Maharashtra and may not allow Ajit Pawar to dominate during the seat-sharing talks. Heartburn within the party and alliance partner being unhappy may turn into a double whammy of sorts for Ajit Pawar in the coming weeks.
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