Amid LS poll high, alarm bells in Sharad Pawar’s NCP as Rohit Pawar, Jayant Patil rift out in open

Despite putting up an impressive performance in the Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra, the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) now seems to be bracing for checking factionalism and infighting within the party in the run-up to the high-stakes state Assembly elections due for October this year.

The NCP(SP) won 8 Lok Sabha seats out of 10 it contested as part of the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which collectively bagged 30 seats out of the state’s 48 as against the ruling Mahayuti’s 17 seats. While the MVA includes the Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) besides the NCP(SP), the Mahayuti coalition comprises the BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP.

Buoyed by the parliamentary poll results, the NCP(SP) led by party founder Sharad Pawar commemorated the party’s 25th foundation day at Ahmednagar on Monday amid jubilation and enthusiasm as it resolved to gear up for the next big challenge in the form of the Assembly elections. However, at this event, the fireworks traded between NCP(SP) MLA Rohit Pawar, grand nephew of Sharad Pawar, and state party chief Jayant Patil, albeit indirectly through their respective speeches, has alarmed the party leaders as well as workers.

Taking the stage first, Rohit obliquely took a swipe at Jayant, saying “In the coming time, anyone may claim that one is a kingmaker or a general (behind the party’s Lok Sabha poll victory). However, this is not because of a single person or one or two leaders but actually common workers that this victory was achieved. And thanks to the efforts made by Sharad Pawar at his age (83 years),” Rohit told the party gathering without naming anyone. He was hinting at some posters of Jayant that hailed him as the “general who led the party to