MUMBAI: A new formula to keep the fractured NCP intact is in the works with Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar creating space to accommodate the parent faction of the party that is with patriarch Sharad Pawar, though its numerical strength in the Assembly is in single digits.
The parent faction appears to have reconciled to the fact that Ajit is way too strong, and age is not on the senior Pawar’s side to take his fight against the ambitious cousin to its logical conclusion.
The deal being worked out includes accommodating Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule at the Centre and finding a berth for Jayant Patil, state president of the parent NCP, in the Maharashtra Cabinet.
Patil would get to keep his position as state president, too, while Sunil Tatkare, the current state president of the Ajit Pawar faction, would resign.
To get the senior Pawar’s consent, BJP has to immediately promote Ajit Pawar as Maharashtra chief minister, accommodate Patil in it, and offer two top Cabinet berths at the Centre, a top source in NCP revealed, requesting anonymity.
Sharad Pawar had earlier formed a four-member committee comprising Ajit Pawar, Praful Patel, Supriya Sule and Jayant Patil to work out the modalities of sharing power with the BJP. The new formula is the outcome of that panel’s meeting.
“Amid these negotiations, Sharad Pawar was asked to drop his visit to Bengaluru for the united Opposition meeting on July 17 and 18. He skipped the first day but went to Bengaluru on the second day. Supriya was planning to accompany him but dropped it at the eleventh hour as a positive gesture towards Ajit,” the source added.
Supriya represents Baramati in the Lok Sabha. She was told that Ajit has huge clout in Baramati. Seeking re-election without his support would make it difficult for her to retain the seat.
Interestingly, Sharad Pawar’s grandnephew Rohit Pawar, a first-time MLA from Karjat Jamkhed, is vehemently against going with the BJP.
“He has conveyed that wants to create his own space in state politics by following the NCP’s secular and progressive ideology,” a source close to him said.