BJP Subtly Asking Ajit Pawar To Quit “Mahayuti”: Sharad Pawar’s NCP

The Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) on Wednesday cited a report in an RSS-linked Marathi weekly to suggest the BJP is sending a subtle message to Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar-led NCP to leave the ruling ‘Mahayuti’ alliance in Maharashtra.

The report in the weekly ‘Vivek’ noted that public sentiments turned sharply against the BJP following its 2023 alliance with the NCP which subsequently led to the party’s bad performance in the recent Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra.

Speaking to reporters, NCP (SP) spokesperson Clyde Crasto said after the setback in the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP is looking to win the upcoming assembly elections in Maharashtra but it realised that the tie-up with Ajit Pawar’s party is going to hurt its prospects.

“The fact of the matter is that the people of Maharashtra have voted largely in favour of the NCP (SP). The BJP is also trading cautiously in the whole issue because it wants to win the elections.

“But its alliance with Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar-led NCP is going to make them lose the elections, like in the Lok Sabha polls… the article in the weekly (Vivek) is one of the ways they are trying to distance themselves from Ajit Pawar and probably asking him to leave (Mahayuti) in one way or the other,” claimed Mr Crasto.

The NCP (SP) spokesperson maintained the RSS-linked publication had written another article with similar contents a couple of weeks ago as well.

Crasto argued the Maharashtra voters have not accepted the BJP’s alliance with the NCP and also the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

“The decision to bring Ajit Pawar on board has caused trouble for the BJP, resulting in the party losing several Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra. This is the current reality in the electoral politics of Maharashtra. It seems the people have not accepted the BJP partnering with the NCP and, similarly, with Shinde-led Shiv Sena,” he said.

Mr Crasto maintained the BJP has begun to realise that taking Ajit Pawar, who joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government in July 2023, onboard is causing trouble and the tie-up will not allow it to win elections.

So, they (BJP) are finding reasons to send across this message, said the spokesperson.

The weekly publication’s report highlighted the disapproval among BJP members and sympathisers regarding the alliance with the NCP and pointed out the perceived departure from the party’s core values.

“Almost every person who is either in the BJP or affiliated to organisations (Sangh Parivar) cited that he does not approve of the BJP allying with the NCP (led by Ajit Pawar). Before writing this piece, we interacted with more than 200 industrialists, traders, doctors, professors, and teachers. The unrest among the party cadre because the BJP allied with the NCP is the tip of the iceberg,” it observed.

The BJP’s seat count in Maharashtra dropped drastically from 23 in 2019 to just nine in the recent Lok Sabha polls, with its ally Shiv Sena securing seven seats and the NCP, led by deputy CM Ajit Pawar, managing to win in just one constituency.

In contrast, the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (SP), and the Congress, put up an impressive show and collectively won 30 out of the 48 seats.

The 1999-founded NCP suffered a split when Ajit Pawar joined the Shinde-led government along with a section of party MLAs loyal to him.