MUMBAI: Sharad Pawar's NCP (SP) appears to be facing internal divisions over the prospect of joining hands with the BJP, with party sources indicating that while Pawar wants to keep his distance, several Lok Sabha MPs and MLAs favour exploring an alliance with the ruling party.
According to party sources, the 86-year-old Pawar has categorically conveyed to senior party leaders that he is not comfortable joining hands with the BJP at the fag end of his political career.
However, those in favour of the move believe they should initiate talks with the BJP and assess what it is willing to offer.
The buzz in the Opposition camp comes weeks after six MPs of Maha Vikas Aghadi ally Shiv Sena (UBT) switched to ruling Shiv Sena.
The NCP (SP)'s stand on the BJP's proposed Delimitation Bill is likely to emerge as a litmus test for Sharad Pawar and his daughter, Supriya Sule, signalling where the party intends to position itself in Maharashtra's evolving political landscape.
The issue gained prominence on Wednesday after Sule, the party's working president, said there would be "little reason to oppose" the Bill if it proposed a uniform 50% increase in seats across all states.
Sule, however, said any decision on supporting the legislation would be taken only after discussions within the INDIA bloc.
Rejecting speculation about the NCP (SP) joining the ruling alliance, Sule said the media had been predicting her swearing-in and ministerial portfolio for the past 12 years.
Notably, the NCP (SP) has 10 Lok Sabha MPs. Of them, six are reportedly keen to join the BJP-led government at the Centre, while two — Sule and Amol Kolhe — are opposed to the move.
Similarly, nine of the party's 10 MLAs are said to favour joining hands with the BJP, with Rohit Pawar the lone dissenter.
Interestingly, Rohit has conveyed to the party leadership that he is prepared to make sacrifices and continue fighting the BJP. He has also said that he is less concerned about three years in power than the next 30 years of his political future and that of Maharashtra.
Rohit, the grandnephew of Sharad Pawar, has also opened a channel with the Congress and is in direct touch with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi should he decide to join the party. Rahul is also reportedly keen to induct Pawar into the Congress because of his willingness to take on the BJP.
Meanwhile, senior NCP leader Jayant Patil has reportedly opened channels of communication with the BJP through two senior leaders, including Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde.
"Patil has the support of six Lok Sabha MPs and nine NCP SP MLAs to initiate the talks with the BJP. In this talk, there are two thoughts, one given by the BJP that the NCP SP should merge with the NCP, not to be a separate entity of the NDA, but others are not keen to be with the NCP. They want to keep their separate identity," a source told TNIE.
Patil, meanwhile, said he met Fadnavis only to discuss an issue in his constituency, and asserted that there was no discussion in the Sharad Pawar-led party about joining the NDA.
"There are no discussions going on in our party about joining the NDA. I met the chief minister only to raise the issue of the Islampur municipal council president, whose election has been declared invalid. (Deputy Chief Minister) Eknath Shinde was in Delhi, so I sought the chief minister's appointment. The meeting lasted barely five to ten minutes, and there was no political discussion," he told reporters.
Patil's meeting with NCP leaders Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare in the presence of CM Fadnavis is understood to be part of the first proposal for a merger, sources said. However, Patil denied reports that he met Patel or Tatkare during his visit to the CM's residence.
Interestingly, Patel and Tatkare are also said to favour bringing Patil and the NCP (SP) into the NCP to curb the growing influence of Parth Pawar and make the party's existing power structure more democratic.
According to sources, the letter challenging Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar's election as NCP national president is intended to convey that she can be replaced if required.
