Mumbai/Delhi: Over a month after his dramatic resignation as Nationalist Congress Party chief, followed by partywide protests and him taking back his decision, Sharad Pawar appointed two new NCP working presidents — his daughter and Lok Sabha MP from Baramati Supriya Sule, and Rajya Sabha MP Praful Patel.
While the senior Pawar made the appointments seem like an attempt to strengthen the party nationally, the responsibilities given to Sule as part of her job as national president indicate that the octogenarian wants to ultimately pass on the baton to his daughter.
Pawar has given Sule two of the most important responsibilities from the NCP’s point of view — the charge of supervising the party’s activities in Maharashtra as well as the party’s central election authority, indicative of scaling up her involvement in the NCP’s home state.
Speaking to ThePrint, Hemant Desai, a political analyst, said, “Giving Supriya Sule the responsibility of the central election authority is very significant. Sharad Pawar may not work as much in a year or two. Supriya Sule will give responsibilities to new workers and there could be an entirely different team in Maharashtra.”
Other than Maharashtra, Sule has been given the responsibility of Haryana, Punjab, and the party’s women’s, youth and student wings, along with supervising the party’s work in the Lok Sabha.
In comparison, Praful Patel has been tasked with overseeing the party in states such as Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Goa, where the NCP has a small presence.
As of now, more than Sule, it is the NCP supremo’s nephew Ajit Pawar who has a strong hold on the NCP’s legislative wing in Maharashtra. The Baramati MLA’s name did not feature on the list of the new responsibilities that Sharad Pawar handed out Saturday.
However, political analysts and Ajit’s supporters say the senior Pawar wouldn’t have made such an announcement without a prior discussion and an understanding with his ambitious nephew, who represents the family turf of Baramati in the Maharashtra assembly.
Speaking to ThePrint, Nitin Birmal, associate professor at Pune’s Dr Ambedkar College of Arts & Commerce, said, “It was always understood that Sharad Pawar might give the administrative responsibilities nationally to Supriya Sule and for the state to Ajit Pawar. Praful Patel has been Sharad Pawar’s Man Friday in Delhi. Now along with him, Sule has been given a position.”
He added, “Today’s announcement is pointing towards the expected pattern of dividing national and state responsibilities between Sule and Ajit. So, I don’t think this has been an attempt to sideline Ajit Pawar.”
There have often been signs of discord between the Pawar uncle and nephew, though these have never boiled over to an open revolt, except for in 2019 when Ajit led a rebellion of NCP MLAs to form a government with the BJP that lasted 72 hours.
Soon after the NCP’s programme Saturday, Ajit tweeted his congratulations to Patel, Sule and the other NCP functionaries with new responsibilities: “Under honourable Pawarsaheb’s leadership and guidance, the NCP, entering its silver jubilee year with the principle ‘Maharashtra in the heart, nation in front of the eyes,’ will make a valuable contribution to the development of the country and the state.”
Addressing a press conference in Delhi in the evening, Sharad Pawar said there isn’t an iota of truth to talks that Ajit is being sidelined.
“Ajit Pawar is Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra assembly. Today he has that responsibility. When Praful Patel and Supriya Sule were chosen, they didn’t have any great responsibility with them so they were prepared to take on more.”
He added: “It is absolutely untrue that someone is happy and someone is not. Those who have been selected, their name was being discussed by all senior leaders since the past month. The decision was taken today.”
The NCP chief said it was felt that two working presidents looking at major states would be better than one. He said Patel and Sule were chosen after discussions with everyone in the party.
On questions of whether one of them will eventually be NCP chief, Pawar said, “The place is not vacant now. We will think about it when it is vacated.”
The NCP was recognised as a national party in January 2000 as it held “state-party status” in Maharashtra, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur and Nagaland.
In April this year, though, the Election Commission took away its national status after conducting a review and concluding that the party no longer satisfied the conditions for state-party status in Arunachal, Meghalaya and Manipur.
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New working presidents, new responsibilities
Sharad Pawar announced the names of the new working presidents Saturday, almost as an afterthought, after wrapping up his main speech at an event in Delhi to mark the party’s 24th foundation day. He handed out a list of responsibilities to a handful of leaders, saying it will strengthen the party’s national footprint.
Last month, the 82-year-old took his party members by surprise at a function to launch the updated version of his autobiography, Lok Majhe Sangatee, (People, my companions), when he decided to retire as NCP president and formed a committee of senior leaders to choose the next leadership.
The decision sparked massive protests among the party’s cadre, with even senior leaders breaking into tears and requesting Pawar to take back his decision. The only leader who supported senior Pawar’s decision, was nephew Ajit.
Sharad Pawar eventually said he will continue as the NCP president, but maintained that the next leadership would be determined soon.
While making the announcements of new roles in the party Saturday, he said, “To bring the country on the right track, together, we will all have to work to strengthen the NCP. That’s why we have decided to give some members some responsibilities.”
Other than the responsibilities of different states, Pawar has also made Praful Patel in-charge of the party’s work in the Rajya Sabha and the chairman of economic affairs.
Pawar also named Sunil Tatkare as the national general secretary, giving him the responsibility of Odisha, West Bengal, the party’s national conferences and sessions, and farmers, minorities departments.
Pawar also handed out national responsibilities to party leaders such as Yoganand Shastri, K.K. Sharma, P.P. Mohammed Faizal, Narendra B. Verma, Jitendra Awhad, S.R. Kohli and Naseem Siddiqui.
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‘No injustice to Ajit dada‘
A senior NCP MLA known to be an Ajit supporter said to ThePrint that those close to the Baramati MLA do not see his exclusion from the new appointments as any injustice to him.
“Pawar saheb never takes decisions without discussing it with family members. Even today, Ajit dada was there when this was announced, he must have been informed and taken into confidence. If he was upset he would have made it a point to not attend the function and send such a message,” he said, adding that Ajit has clarified a number of times that he is only interested in looking after the administration in Maharashtra.
Throughout Saturday’s programme, Ajit sat on the stage in the front row between Jitendra Awhad and Hemant Takle, wearing dark glasses, and left immediately after the function.
Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, NCP Maharashtra president Jayant Patil said, “The decisions were taken in Ajit dada’s presence. When a decision is taken in everybody’s presence, there is no point in raising doubts about it.”
Adding that “there are attempts to spread misunderstandings about our party,” Patil said, “There has been no injustice to Ajit dada Pawar and all the decisions at the national level have been taken unanimously.”
Political commentator Desai, however, said that getting Sule officially involved in the organisational decisions of Maharashtra could be a way to sideline Ajit Pawar.
“Jayant Patil, the Maharashtra NCP president, is anyway a close associate of Sharad Pawar. Now, bringing this combination of Supriya Sule and Jayant Patil gives an indication that it is a way to push Ajit Pawar to the side,” he said to ThePrint.
“Either Ajit Pawar will be sidelined or he will have to compromise and accept it,” he added.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
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