Ira Deshpande, Pune
In the aftermath of the Nationalist Congress Party’s deprived performance in the Maharashtra Lok Sabha elections, Ajit Pawar’s NCP witnessed four prominent leaders from Pimpri-Chinchwad resigning on Wednesday. Along with them, over 25 leaders and corporators from Pimpri-Chinchwad have now joined the NCP (SCP). Sources report this as a result of the swooping win by Sharad Pawar-led NCP, winning 8 seats of the 10 contested in the Lok Sabha. On the other hand, Ajit Pawar’s faction managed to win one seat of the four they contested.
The leaders who exited the party include the unit president of Pimpri Chinchwad Ajit Gavahane, Student leader Yash Sane along with Pankaj Bhalekar, and Rahul Bhosale, two ex-contractors. Ajit Gavahane is now speculated to contest from Bhosari. The Bhosari seat is presently under the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP alliance. Ajit Gavhane said the reason for his resignation was the corruption he saw since BJP’s involvement began in the civic body, “We raised this issue with Ajit Dada but nothing changed”, Gavhane added.
Ajit Pawar declared these to be the expected moves considering the upcoming elections. The deputy Chief minister further said that the leaders who are unable to acquire a ticket from their party would naturally move on to another.
As many from the NCP return to Sharad Pawar’s faction, there is talk of Ajit Pawar returning as well. When asked by the press whether his nephew could return to the party, Sharad Pawar answered that this was not a personal decision and he would have to consult his trusted colleagues first.
Sharad Pawar founded the Nationalist Congress Party in 1999. In 2023 the party split into two factions as Ajit Pawar (his nephew) resigned to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) -Shiv Sena government forming the two factions Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar) and Nationalist Congress Party – Sharadchandra Pawar (Sharad Pawar). This move led to Ajit Pawar’s appointment as the deputy Chief minister under Eknath Shinde’s lead as CM.
After the resignation of leaders, Ajit Pawar held a meeting on the 18th of July with his party workers from Pimpri-Chinchwad to discuss matters further.