Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s claim to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) before the Election Commission is ‘arbitrary’ as merely splitting a party of its MLAs or MPs do not give anyone ownership of the party, a ‘Saamna’ editorial said. ‘Saamna’ is the official newspaper of the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena.
Ajit Pawar claimed before the Election Commission that NCP chief Sharad Pawar is a dictator and he ran the party in his own way, the editorial mentioned. It also said that the same argument was given before the poll body during the Shiv Sena split.
The editorial argued that if the rebel faction of both the parties lose in election, the decision to grant party name and symbol to them would be questionable.
Both Balasaheb Thackeray founded Shiv Sena and the Sharad Pawar founded NCP gave important posts to people like Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar.
Ajit Pawar was able to be the Deputy Chief Minister four to five times from the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, the editorial claimed adding that the ED did not ‘touch’ Ajit Pawar owing to the leadership of Sharad Pawar.
Had Ajit Pawar had confidence of his capability and strength he would have formed his own party and sought public opinion, but he chose to make the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) his new ‘owner’ and laying claims to the Shiv Sena and the NCP argued the editorial.
Sharad Pawar’s party made Chhagan Bhujbal, who was then released from jail, a minister, it said adding that the party also gave opportunities to Hasan Mushrif, who was on the verge of going to jail. “These people had nothing to say about the ‘dictatorship’ of Sharad Pawar’s work at that time,” he said. Sharad Pawar also gave ample leadership opportunities to Praful Patel.
Bhujbal, Mushrif and Patel joined hands with the BJP following the footsteps of their faction’s leader Ajit Pawar.
The editorial also claimed that Patel’s prominence in national politics is only because of Sharad Pawar. It also added since Patel’s dealings with Dawood Ibrahim’s henchman Iqbal Mirchi turned out to be suspicious, Patel ditched Sharad Pawar to avoid action against him.
The Saamna editorial also questioned whether the BJP, which it says, Ajit Pawar is currently under the influence of, is being run in a democratic manner. It said that BJP president JP Nadda is controlled by the Modi-Shah duo.
The editorial also reminded Eknath Shinde that when former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray was unanimously elected to the post of the Working President in the statewide camp in Mahabaleshwar, Shinde was only limited to the Thane Municipal Corporation. Moreover, it claimed that if Sharad Pawar had not helped, Ajit Pawar would have been seen roaming around on a bicycle in Baramati.
Pointing out the assessment of the Supreme Court, the editorial stated that if a handful of MLAs break away from the party it does not imply that the party has broken.
