Mumbai, Jan 9 (PTI) Senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Praful Patel on Friday dismissed the idea of any broader reconciliation between the rival NCP factions, saying his party remains firmly committed to the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP-led NDA.
During an exclusive interview with the PTI, Patel said the recent local alliances, especially the unexpected partnership between Ajit Pawar’s NCP and Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) for the next week’s civic body polls in Maharashtra, should not be seen as a change in national or state strategy.
The two NCP factions, rivals at the state level, along with some local units of the Shiv Sena, have formed strategic alliances for the January 15 municipal elections in Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, and Parbhani.
Patel was quick to draw a line between civic convenience and ideological alignment, saying “we are firm on working under the BJP and Narendra Modi’s leadership. Our alliance is only with the BJP and NDA. ” The former Union minister made it clear that his party worked under Modi’s leadership in Delhi and under Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in Maharashtra, where NCP president Ajit Pawar is a Deputy CM.
“Not much should be read into these (municipal level) local alliances,” he insisted.
Asked if his party will support former Union minister and NCP (SP) leader Sharad Pawar if he were to seek re-election to the Rajya Sabha after his tenure in the Upper House of Parliament ends in three months, Patel said, “No, actually, you see, his party has got enough legislators to elect one candidate.” “This is not for us to decide whether Mr Pawar is elected, whether by his party or all the Opposition parties put together. That is their call, and we have nothing to do with it,” Patel said.
On his party leader and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar’s remarks in an interview to PTI that “party-hopping” has become rampant in politics, with leaders being lured or forced into switching sides, Patel said, “You must remember that local elections in Maharashtra are taking place after nine years, and therefore there are a lot of aspirants.” “Everybody feels that he wants to contest. Now, if his party is not able to give him a ticket, he moves to another party,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.
“Also, if some party does not have the appropriate candidate and gets a ready-made good candidate, they also take such candidates. My point is, this is a local election. Not much should be read about party-hopping as far as these elections are concerned,” Patel said.
Asked about BJP’s “shat pratishat BJP” (100 per cent BJP) slogan and the future of alliance politics, Patel said, “Every party has a right to grow, and obviously they will want a larger space.” In politics, the endeavour is to win every vote and every seat. But that doesn’t really happen like that,” the NCP leader said.
“Today, the BJP, a party at the national level, has alliances in different states with different parties. In the 2020 Bihar assembly elections, the BJP got double the number of MLAs compared to Nitish Kumar’s party, but since it was an alliance, they decided that Nitish Kumar shall be the leader of the alliance, and therefore made him the CM,” Patel said.
This time, the story is different, the senior NCP leader said.
“When we (NCP) made an alliance with the BJP (in July 2023), Eknath Shinde was the Chief Minister, and the BJP and Shinde (Shiv Sena) had an absolute majority (in the assembly),” Patel noted.
“There was no need for any extra MLAs or a third party to stabilise the government. But after we discussed, decided, there was a mature, sincere conversation between us and the BJP leadership, it was decided that we will go into alliance with them, and we happily accepted the proposal,” he said.
“So my point is that politics of alliances don’t work only on numbers or on convenience. I feel that the BJP has a very mature process, a very sincere process to carry its allies along,” he added.
On the possibility of his being inducted into the Union Cabinet, Patel said, “Such a buzz is only in the media. I have no idea, and I don’t think anybody should speculate on such things. After all, whoever is to be inducted is the prerogative of the Prime Minister. I don’t think I have either sought any position or my party has been sounded out for any such position.” PTI VT UG SKL RSY
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.